Nitish shielding influential people, says Tejashwi Yadav

New Delhi: Accusing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of shielding influential people "close" to him in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday demanded the CBI probe into the allegations levelled against Kumar in the matter.

Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said an application moved in a special POCSO (The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court in Muzaffarpur by an accused in the case carries "serious allegation" against the chief minister. The Bihar court Saturday directed the CBI to probe the role of Kumar and several senior bureaucrats in the release of funds between 2013 and 2018 to a Muzaffarpur shelter home that was rocked by a sex scandal. The state assembly has also witnessed a ruckus by the opposition party in the matter.

"The chief minister keeps invoking his conscience when it suits him. This is high time that he ordered a probe against himself in the matter," the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly said.

Later in his tweets, Yadav questioned if Kumar should not resign on moral ground till the probe in the case is over as it is clear that the whole scandal was "patronised" by people in his government. The then Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma had resigned in August last year after her name cropped up in the case. The ruling JD(U) has rejected RJD's allegations against Kumar and his government.