Politics heats up as CBI begins inquiry into Bihar NGO scam

New Delhi: From Saturday, the epicentre of national politics will shift to the capital of Bihar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a daylong tour to see the flood situation in Bihar. The same day West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will reach Patna to attend a huge rally on 27 August organised by the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Jadav.

Meanwhile, politics in Bihar has been heating up after Union Home ministry has given nod to probe into the whopping 780 crores of scam known as Srijan scam.

Bihar Deputy Chief minister Sushil Modi is already under pressure after Chief minister Nitish Kumar has recommended a CBI inquiry into the scandal. Opposition parties including Congress have already demanded resignation of Bihar CM on moral grounds and they demanded a CBI Probe monitored by the Supreme Court.

There is speculation that on the day of Bihar opposition rally Prime Minister Modi may go for a Cabinet reshuffle to drive away media attention from the opposition rally.

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to flood affected areas in Bihar on August 26, a political war has erupted in the state with Opposition RJD on Thursday not allowing the House to function demanding adjournment motion to be brought to discuss and debate the flood situation in the state. However, the Opposition's demand was rejected leading to them creating a din inside the House.

According to the itinerary of the Prime Minister, he will be landing in Purnea at 11 am on August 26 after which he will be carrying out aerial survey of the flood affected Seemanchal region including districts of Kishanganj, Purnea, Araria and Katihar. After the survey, he will be reaching Patna and hold a meeting with the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Cabinet colleague on the flood situation. Soon after the meeting PM will be going to 1, Anne Marg, residence of Chief Minister for lunch after which he will return to Delhi. PM will be in Bihar for 4 hours, between 11am and 3 pm.

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over to investigate the Srijan scam involving alleged transfer of government funds amounting to more than Rs 800 crore to accounts of a non-government organisation in Bihar's Bhagalpur district.

A notification for the probe was issued on Thursday by the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions. The scam took place between 2007 and 2013, when BJP leader Sushil Modi was the finance minister though the government says the NGO, Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti, was authorised to transfer funds in 2003 when RJD chief Lalu Prasad's wife, Rabri Devi, was the chief minister.

An initial probe has revealed involvement of nationalised banks, government officials and employees in the fraudulent withdrawal of government funds in three districts of Bhagalpur, Banka and Saharsa.

Earlier, opposition parties led by leader of the opposition in Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad had called for a CBI probe into the scam.

The scam came as a major embarrassment for Kumar, who had broken ranks with the opposition to join the BJP-led NDA last month on the issue of corruption charges against Tejashwi and other members of Lalu Prasad's family.

Alarmed over the magnitude of the scam, Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh has asked all district magistrates to get their accounts checked thoroughly, raising doubts that the government may have been caught napping, even as it was the government, which eventually detected the scam.

The scam went unnoticed for so long as the NGO managed to furnish doctored bank statements and passbooks with the help of bankers and government officials. The NGO allegedly used to procure cheque books from banks and forge signature of the district magistrate to issue cheques in its own favour, transferring huge funds to its account.