PATNA: No sooner had the dust settled over Mewa Lal Chaudhary, appointed education minister but who had to quit in disgrace after it was pointed out that he was an accused in corruption cases during his stint as a vicechancellor, another controversy has erupted, this time over date of birth of deputy chief minister Tar Kishor Prasad. The controversy has erupted over the age he has declared since the 2005 elections.
That year, Prasad in his affidavit stated that he was 48 years old. But when he contested the assembly elections in 2010, he submitted to the Election Commission that he was 49, in other words in five years he grew older by only one year. Five years later in the 2015 elections, Prasad stated his age to be 52, ageing by only three years.
But his 2020 election affidavit takes the cake. The deputy CM has declared himself as 64 years old, or growing older by 12 years in a span of five. “Bihar Deputy Chief Minister at his age is also involved in scam and threatening contractors for commission and making all his family members a contractor. The entire Katihar knows that without commission they do no work in the area.
Now the whole of Bihar will be familiar with their exploits,” the Rashtriya Janata Dal tweeted. No BJP leader could be contacted for comment but Janata Dal (United) leader Ashok K Chaudhry told a news channel that a minor mistake might have occurred due to a clerical error.
“It (the affidavit) should be checked before it is submitted but this is not a serious matter,” he said. Prasad is a four-term MLA who has been inducted into the council of ministers for the first time. He has been given the coveted finance portfolio apart from commercial taxes and environment and forest.