Bihar: Lalu Prasad Yadav claims BJP has planted corruption charges against him
The former chief minister said the raids were uncalled for as information about his children’s assets was in the public domain.
Rashtriya Janata Dal and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of fabricating corruption charges against him, NDTV reported on Friday. The former chief minister made the statements after the Income Tax Department had raided his properties on Tuesday.
Yadav also said information about his children’s assets was in the public domain. “For the past three to four days, at the BJP’s instance, the media is running that properties linked to Lalu have been raided. This is at the behest of [BJP leader] Sushil Modi,” Yadav told NDTV.
Dozens of Rashtriya Janata Dal workers, in retaliation to the raids, had attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party’s office in Patna on Wednesday. Police baton-charged them after they had damaged property and and vehicles in the area.
Yadav also said his party will conduct a rally on August 27 at Gandhi Maidan, where “leaders with similar ideologies” will be invited to “discuss the future course of action. “BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh should listen, and know that Lalu Yadav will drag you off your seat in Delhi, whatever be my situation,” he told ANI.
BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had lead the charges against Yadav. He had given the authorities details about several alleged benami land deals connected with the RJD chief. On Tuesday, the I-T department had conducted 22 raids in and around Delhi in connection with these deals, which are suspected to be worth up to Rs 1,000 crore. A team of around 100 tax officers reportedly searched the offices or residences of some prominent businessmen and real estate agents in those areas.
The raids come only days after the Bharatiya Janata Party accused Yadav and his children of being involved in corrupt land deals. On May 12, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had demanded an inquiry into the land deals related to Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti. A Rajya Sabha MP, Bharti had failed to disclose these assets in her election affidavit.