Lalu Yadav, the former chief minister of Bihar and leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, arrived at the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) office here on Monday to be questioned regarding the alleged Land for Job scam. To express their disapproval of the national president of their party being questioned, a sizable contingent of RJD employees gathered outside the office. According to an RJD worker, their leader is being harassed by the Central government in an attempt to stop them from formulating plans for the approaching Lok Sabha elections.
“These people do not have any other weapon. The government is harassing these people for the upcoming elections of 2024 so that they are not able to make strategies,” she said.
“The more Lalu Yadav is being harassed, the stronger the workers are becoming. None of us is afraid,” the RJD supporter added.
Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti arrived with her father, who will now be questioned by federal agency representatives.
“Everything is in front of the country and the people of the country are watching everything,” Misa, surrounded by scores of RJD supporters, told reporters outside ED’s office.
Manoj Kumar Jha, RJD Rajya Sabha MP, has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politically targeting its rivals, using government agencies.
“This is not an ED summon, but a BJP summon… This will go on till 2024, till then please do not call it ED summons… Why should we be scared?” Jha said.
The BJP, which on Sunday became part of the state government after Nitish Kumar switched sides, claimed that corruption was deep set in the RJD.
The purported fraud transpired during Lalu Yadav’s tenure as Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009. The chargesheet names the then-Railway General Manager in addition to the RJD national president.
The CBI filed the chargesheet in October last year, against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, their daughter Misa Bharti, and 13 others in the land-for-jobs scam.
