PATNA: After a photo showing Bihar Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav in the company of a criminal surfaced, the ruling JD(U) on Wednesday stepped up its attacks on Yadav and said he may use criminals to facilitate his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s escape from Ranchi jail.
Tejashwi Yadav was seen with notorious criminal Suresh Chaudhary in what is apparently a group selfie taken during the RJD leader’s ongoing statewide ‘Samvidhan Bachao Nyay Yatra’ campaign in Gopalganj on Tuesday. Chaudhary, a dreaded criminal with several cases of murder and abduction lodged against him, is seen wearing a green angavastram symbolizing his support for RJD.
JD(U) leaders on Wednesday released another photograph showing Chaudhary sitting in the front row of the audience at a rally addressed by Yadav in Gopalganj on the third day of his public campaign against NDA.
Yadav’s meeting with the family members of jailed don-turned-politician and former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin in Siwan on Monday was also questioned by JD(U) and its ally BJP. Shahabuddin, convicted in a double murder case of 2004, is currently serving life term at Delhi’s Tihar jail. He is also an accused in the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan in 2016, a case being probed by CBI.
Shahabuddin, who served as MP for four terms, was shifted to Tihar jail from Bhagalpur jail last year to ensure a fair trial in the criminal cases against him. He still wields considerable influence on voters in Siwan and Gopalganj, which is why RJD is yet to snap ties with him.
“The ongoing yatra of Tejashwi Yadav has once again exposed the ties he and his party have with dreaded criminals. We apprehend that he may use criminals to make a bid to ensure his father’s escape from judicial custody in Ranchi,” said JD(U) MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar. He also shot off a letter to the DGP of Jharkhand urging him to raise the security around Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is serving time in jail following his conviction in four fodder scam cases.
But RJD leaders rubbished JD(U)’s charges and apprehensions as baseless. “They (JDU) are feeling so frustrated because of the huge crowds of people turning up at Tejashwi Yadav’s rallies that they have resorted to alarm-mongering. They are forgetting how an accused in a hooch tragedy had visited CM Nitish Kumar’s residence and taken photos with him last year,” said RJD legislator and spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav.