Bihar’s Ruling Alliance Rocked By CBI Chargesheet Naming Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav

Bihar’s ruling mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) has run into rough weather with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) naming Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav in its second chargesheet on the recruitment scam in the railways when his father, Lalu Yadav, was the Railway Minister. 

The development has triggered a churn within the ruling alliance with some senior Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) leaders telling Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that his (Kumar’s) image will suffer if Yadav is allowed to continue as his deputy. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already upped the ante and demanded that Kumar sack Tejaswi Yadav. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who was the deputy CM when the JD(U) was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), reminded Kumar that he had demanded Lalu Yadav’s resignation when the CBI named senior Yadav in its chargesheet in the fodder scam. 

“Nitish Kumar lays claim to being clean and principled. He should thus not allow a person charged with corruption and malfeasance to continue as his deputy,” Modi told Swarajya. 

Modi also reminded Kumar that he had sought Tejaswi Yadav’s resignation in 2017 when allegations of corruption surfaced against the latter.  

Tejaswi and his father (Lalu Yadav) were accused of fraudulently awarding a contract for maintenance and operation of two hotels belonging to the railways at Ranchi and Puri to a Patna-based hotelier in return for a bribe of three acres of prime land when Lalu was the Railway Minister. 

Lalu Yadav had then snubbed Nitish Kumar’s call to Tejaswi to resign, leading to Kumar exiting the alliance with Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in July 2017. 

“If he (Kumar) stood for his principles then, he should do the same now. At that time, only allegations of corruption against Lalu Yadav and Tejaswi had surfaced. Now the CBI chargesheet names Tejaswi, his parents and sisters,” contended Modi. 

Though the RJD, JD(U) and Congress — the major partners in the ruling alliance — have turned down the demand for Tejaswi’s resignation, there is considerable disquiet within the JD(U). 

“It will be difficult to defend the Yadavs now. Nitishji broke away from the RJD in 2017 over mere allegations of corruption against Tejaswi (who was the deputy CM at that time as well). But this time, the allegations of corruption (in the land-for-jobs scam in the railways) have been probed and have been found to be true by the CBI. That is why Tejaswi and his parents have been named in the chargesheet,” a senior JD(U) leader who holds an important organisational post told Swarajya. 

This JD(U) leader pointed out that it was another party leader, Lalan Singh (the current party president), who handed over evidence of the land-for-jobs scam to then prime minister Manmohan Singh when Lalu Yadav was the railway minister between 2004 and 2009 in the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. 

“Our party had then demanded that Lalu Yadav be sacked. The case was handed over to the CBI, which has now completed its probe. We should be consistent in our stand against corruption. Supporting the Yadavs now will show us to be hypocrites,” the JD(U) leader said. 

Another JD(U) leader who is also a senior cabinet minister told Swarajya that a few of them have informally discussed the issue with Nitish Kumar. 

“We told Nitishji that given the irrefutable evidence that has been unearthed against Tejaswi, his parents and siblings, he should be asked to step aside till his name is cleared. Till then, Lalu Yadav’s elder son Tej Pratap (the current Environment and Forest Minister) can be elevated to the post of deputy CM,” said the cabinet minister. 

But it is quite certain that Lalu Yadav will not entertain such a request, and not the least because he does not fully trust his elder son.

Also, Lalu Yadav has always brazened out the many allegations of corruption and wrongdoings against him and his family. Even though he was convicted multiple times in the fodder scam and has served out jail terms, he maintains he was innocent and framed in the scam.

“Lalu Yadav has never admitted to any wrongdoing on his part and will not do so now. He will not accept the demand for Tejaswi’s resignation or sacking. Lalu Yadav does not believe in propriety. Morality is alien to him,” said BJP state president Samrat Chaudhary. 

“But Nitish Kumar always claims the moral high ground and asserts that he does not tolerate corruption and wrongdoing. He claims that all his actions are dictated by principles. So, in keeping with those principles, he should ask his deputy (Tejaswi) to step down,” said Chaudhary. 

Nitish Kumar, however, is likely to remain silent and swallow all barbs directed at him. That’s because he has no option before him. 

In 2017, he could reach out to the BJP and return to the NDA (after breaking away from the NDA in 2013). But the BJP has made it absolutely clear to him that the doors of the party (the BJP) are permanently closed to him. He will never be taken back into the NDA.  

Nitish Kumar cannot, thus, break away from the mahagathbandhan. Doing so would put him into political oblivion and end his political career. 

Nitish Kumar also knows that the RJD’s backing is critical for him to play the role in national politics that he desires to. He will have to give up his chair to Tejaswi within a year, and if he cannot find a space at the national political stage, it will mean certain retirement for him. 

That is why Nitish Kumar will have to sacrifice his principles and, even at the cost of having his image permanently tarnished, remain in the RJD-led mahagathbandhan. 

The Land-For-Jobs Scam:

• A total of 1,458 people, mostly residents of Patna, were appointed as Group D ‘substitutes’ in various zones of the Indian Railways when Lalu Yadav was the railway minister;

• ‘Substitutes’ are appointed when a post falls vacant and needs to be filled up immediately because of ‘exigencies of the job’. The ‘substitutes’ draw same pay and allowances as regular employees;

• The railway authorities did not advertise the vacant posts and invite applications from candidates, nor were the appointments notified publicly as is required;

• The candidates were appointed after they or their families ‘sold’ land parcels, mostly in Patna, to Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi and their two daughters at rates much below market prices;

• Some land parcels were even ‘gifted’ to the Yadavs, and all the transactions were carried out in cash in violation of norms; 

• The people appointed as Group D ‘substitutes’ did not join their posts immediately, thus negating the grounds for their emergency appointment; all these appointments were subsequently regularised.

• A total of 105,292 square feet of land and some other immovable properties were gifted to the Yadavs through five sale deeds and two gift deeds.

Some Of The Cases That Implicate The Yadavs: 

• On 6 February 2008, Patna resident Kishun Deo Rai transferred his 3,375 square feet of land in Rabri Devi's name for Rs 3.75 lakh.
  In the same year, three members of his family — Raj Kumar Singh, Mithilesh Kumar and Ajay Kumar — were appointed as substitutes in Group D posts in Central Railway, Mumbai.

• In February 2008, Patna resident Sanjay Rai sold a 3,375 square feet plot of land that he owned to Rabri Devi for a measly Rs 3.75 lakh.
  Rai and two of his family members were given jobs in the railways soon after that.

• Kiran Devi, a resident of Patna, sold 80,905 square feet of land in November 2007 to Lalu Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti for Rs 3.70 lakh.
  Her son Abhishek Kumar was appointed to the Central Railways as a Group D substitute later that year.

• Another resident of Patna, Hazari Rai, sold 9,527 square feet of land in February 2007 to AK Infosystem Private Limited, a Delhi-based company, for Rs 10.83 lakh.
  Later, two nephews of Hazari Rai — Dilchand Kumar and Prem Chand Kumar — were appointed as substitutes in the West Central Railway, Jabalpur, and South Eastern Railway, Kolkata.
  CBI found that all rights and assets of AK Infosystem were transferred to the daughter and wife of Lalu Prasad Yadav in the year 2014.
  Rabri Devi purchased the majority of shares of the company in 2014 and subsequently became director of the company.

• In May 2005, Patna resident Lal Babu Rai transferred 1,360 square feet of land he owned to Rabri Devi for a sale consideration of Rs 13 lakh.
  His son, Lal Chand Kumar, was appointed as a substitute in the year 2006 in North Western Railway, Jaipur.

• In March 2008, Brij Nandan Rai, sold his 3,375 square feet of land to a Gopalganj resident, Hridyanand Choudhary, for Rs 4.21 lakh. Choudhary was appointed as a substitute in the East Central Railway, Hajipur. Later, Choudhary, through a gift deed, transferred this land to Lalu’s daughter Hema in 2014.
  Choudhary was not related to the Yadavs and the value of the land he transferred to Hema was Rs 62 lakh as per the rates prevailing at that time.

• In March 2008, Vishun Dev Rai transferred his 3,375 square feet of land to a Siwan resident, Lalan Choudhary.
  Later, Lalan’s grandson Pintu Kumar was appointed as a substitute in the year 2008 at Western Railway, Mumbai. Subsequently, Lalan Choudhary transferred the parcel of land to Hema in February 2014.

Also read: 

Explained: The Land-For-Jobs Scam In Railways During Lalu Yadav’s Tenure And Why It Spells Trouble For The Yadavs

Land-For-Jobs Scam: CBI Questions Lalu Yadav And Family; Turmoil In Bihar Politics Imminent?

As Evidence Piles Up Against RJD Leaders In Land-For-Jobs Scam, Nitish Kumar Will Land In A Tough Spot