Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sanjay Jaiswal claimed on Tuesday that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav wanted the Central Government to shield his family from corruption cases and was willing to support his party in forming government in the State in return.
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Mr. Jaiswal told PTI that Mr. Yadav had made this offer to Union Minister Nityanand Rai on a flight and added the RJD leader's claim that Mr. Rai had wanted to join his party was made in frustration because the BJP had refused to "compromise" with corruption.
This was the only time Mr. Rai had met Mr. Yadav, he said.
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The RJD had claimed in Patna on Monday that Mr. Rai, a senior BJP leader from the State, had expressed a desire to jump ship before his induction into the Union Council of Ministers in 2019.
Mr. Jaiswal, a Lok Sabha MP, hit back at Mr. Yadav, saying he was getting back at Mr. Rai with such a "false claim" because the BJP refused to compromise with corruption.
His family members are accused of massive corruption, and he is bound to go to jail, the BJP leader said.
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"He wanted the BJP to protect his family members from going to jail. He was ready to support the BJP and help it form a government in the State. But our party refused to compromise with corruption," he said.
Reacting to Mr. Rai's criticism of him for his swipe at the NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, Mr. Yadav had said, "Don't talk to me about him. He had met me before getting a ministerial berth and expressed the desire to join my party." Mr. Yadav, the son of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, and some other members of his family have been booked in a corruption case. He has in the past rejected the charge and blamed the BJP-led NDA's political vendetta for this.
Lalu Prasad has been convicted in a fodder scam cases.