PATNA: A key political aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday disapproved of demands for the withdrawal of general consent to CBI by the state government over alleged misuse of the agency by the BJP-led government at the Centre.
JD(U) parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha asserted that it was not the agency per se that was at fault but the regime that has vitiated the atmosphere.
"I don't think states should take recourse to such a step. It is not the agency that is to be blamed. We need to work towards forming a government at the Centre that creates an atmosphere of trust and credibility," Kushwaha told reporters here.
The stance adopted by the top JD(U) leader, a former Union minister himself, seems at variance with sentiments expressed by many others in the ruling 'Mahagathbandhan'.
Many senior leaders of RJD, Congress and the Left, besides a JD(U) minister Madan Sahni, have said that Bihar should follow the example of states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Punjab, Jharkhand and Meghalaya.
Altogether nine states across the country have withdrawn such consent.
However, Kushwaha also made it clear that he was not distancing himself from allegations of CBI's misuse.
"Timings of raids carried out by these agencies lend credence to allegations of political vendetta. Last week, CBI raids took place on the very day the new government was facing a trust vote," the JD(U) leader said.
Raids were conducted at several premises belonging to many leaders of the RJD in connection with the land for jobs scam pertaining to the period when party supremo Lalu Prasad was the railway minister.
Meanwhile, former Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad bristled at the demand and pointed out that such measures have not protected those suspected of wrongdoing.
"Nitish Kumar should look at Mamata Banerjee who used to rail so much against central agency. After recovery of wads of notes, worth crores of rupees, she has fallen silent," said the Patna Sahib MP, in an indirect reference to the ED's crackdown on former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee.
Mocking Kumar's perceived prime ministerial ambitions which the Bihar CM has repeatedly denied, Prasad, a BJP leader, said, "He wants to climb many steps.
He will flounder at the first if he takes such a step, buckling under pressure."
Meanwhile, senior Bihar BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha on Monday alleged that ruling Mahagathbandhan leaders are demanding the withdrawal of general consent to CBI to "protect acts of graft and corrupt politicians in the Grand Alliance".
Many leaders in the seven-party ruling alliance are raising the demand, the most vocal being RJD, whose top leaders like Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav and many close members of their family and key aides have been named in cases lodged by the CBI.
The Leader of Opposition, while speaking to reporters, said, "The demand to withdraw general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Bihar is being made with a malafide intention."
"If the state government takes any such decision, it would be simply to protect acts of corruption and the corrupt leaders in the Mahagathbandhan. If they (ruling alliance leaders) are honest, why are they so scared of the CBI?" he said.
Sinha wondered why Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was silent over the demand.
"The CM is trying to save the corrupt and extend political patronage to the leaders involved in graft and criminal activities. Any such move would be unconstitutional and against the federal structure of the country," he added.