RJD leader Lalu Prasad on Wednesday gave a new twist to Nitish Kumar’s resignation, saying a pending case against him and not the differences over corruption charges against Tejashwi Yadav was at the root of the JD(U) leader’s “resignation drama.”
In the 1991 Lok Sabha polls, a man named Sitaram Singh was killed at a polling station in Pandarak and Mr. Kumar is among the accused. He had made a mention of the case in the affidavit he filed while contesting the Legislative Council election, Lalu told a press conference.
He claimed that a court in Barh had taken cognisance of the charges against Mr. Kumar in 2009 and that the case was still alive in the Patna High Court.
“Nitish knew that he was soon going to be hauled up by the court and will have to quit in any case. He made the Tejashwi issue a ruse to exit before that happens,” the RJD leader claimed.
He slammed Mr. Kumar for seeking explanation from Tejashwi over graft charges against him, saying “We will give the documents to CBI. Who are they to ask for it? Has Tejashwi engaged in any act of corruption as a Minister in Bihar?”
“There is the involvement of Narendra Modi in all this. Nitish has slapped the people of Bihar and now people like Sushil Modi [a top State BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister] are eager to form the government with the JD(U),” he said.
Replying to a question, Mr. Prasad said he had not sacrificed the grand alliance government for the “love of his son.” “We were the largest party in the grand alliance. Tejashwi got the post of the Deputy Chief Minister. We had the mandate of the people,” he said.
‘A charade’
Criticising Mr. Kumar, Shivanand Tiwari, a confidant of Mr. Prasad, said: “He is using zero tolerance as a charade,” Mr. Tiwari told reporters. He also referred to Mr. Kumar’s efforts to rope in INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, lodged in jail in a corruption case, in his attempt to cobble up a united Janata Dal.
