JD(U) giving political colour to ED's action against Lalu's family, says BJP's Sushil Modi

PATNA: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday accused Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and JD(U) president Lalan Singh of giving political colour to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) action against RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and his family in connection with land-for-job scam.

BJP MP and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said that JD(U) leaders were trying to give political colour to the operation launched by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED against Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and deputy chief minister son Tejashwi Yadav to divert people's attention from corruption charges levelled against them.

Referring to the ED's search operation and Lalu's allegations that his pregnant daughter-in-law Rajshree Yadav was harassed, Sushil said that the question of harassing anybody during the operation didn't arise.

When she (Rajshree, wife of Tejashwi) and 'nati-natini' (grandsons and granddaughters) are not accused in the IRCTC scam case, the question of investigation didn't arise, he remarked.

"RJD chief is playing emotional card by spreading rumours about his daughter-in-law's torture by the central agency to take political mileage," he asserted.

Moreover, the BJP leader said that Nitish should formulate a policy that no pregnant woman will be questioned by any investigating agency even if charges levelled against her were serious in nature.

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The former deputy chief minister also sought to know how Lalu's family acquired property worth Rs.600 crore, which came to light during an investigation carried out by central agencies.

Tejashwi should explain how he became the owner of his New Friends' Colony residence worth Rs.200 crore when he had no other sources of income, he added.

The BJP MP also questioned why Hridayanand Choudhary and Lallan Choudhary gifted property at a prime location to Lalu's daughter Hema Yadav. The property was later sold off for Rs.350 crore. Earlier, Lalu and his wife Rabri were interrogated by CBI in connection with the land-for-jobs scam.

During the search operation, Modi claimed that Rs.1 crore in cash besides one and a half kilogram of gold jewellery and half kilogram of gold biscuit were seized from the residential premises of Lalu's family members on Friday. Altogether 24 locations in Patna, Mumbai, Ranchi and New Delhi were simultaneously searched.