RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday alleged that there is another Bihar treasury scam of Rs 16,000 crores for the financial year 2009-10 over and above the reported scam of Rs 11,000 crores for the period of 2002-2008. Mr Yadav demanded the resignation of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, while the LJP chief sought dismissal of the Bihar government, saying that the constitutional machinery in the state has completely broken down.
Though the RJD-LJP has stated that their alliance is rock solid in the state, both Mr Yadav and Mr Paswan chose to address the media separately and even struck different lines on their demands against Mr Kumar. While Mr Paswan sought dismissal of the NDA government in the state, Mr Yadav stated that he wanted only the resignation of Mr Kumar as by calling for dismissal he did not want to give the credit to the Congress. Also contradicting Mr Paswan’s statement that the two parties would submit a memorandum to the President, Mr Yadav in his inimitable style said he would not “go to anyone” as he had faith in the court.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Mr Paswan alleged “there is a complete constitutional breakdown in Bihar”. “People are coming out on the streets against corruption. I demand that President’s rule be imposed there,” said the LJP chief.
Mr Paswan told reporters that a delegation of RJD-LJP combine had earlier called on the Bihar governor. “The governor had said he would seek a legal opinion in this regard,” Mr Paswan told reporters.
While the LJP chief termed the ruckus in the Bihar Assembly “unfortunate”, Mr Yadav on the other hand blamed the state ministers for indulging in scuffles.
“It was the Bihar ministers who launched attack on Opposition MLAs,” said Mr Yadav.
Hitting out at Mr Kumar, Mr Paswan went on to say that “if Nitish Kumar is clean, why is he afraid of CBI inquiry? Why is he saying the he will get it reviewed? Why is he going to file an appeal (against the Patna high court recommending CBI inquiry into the alleged financial irregularities)?”.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain slammed the ruckus in the Bihar Assembly, saying the Opposition MLAs were trying to sully the government image ahead of the elections. Mr Hussain said the incident has exposed the Congress and RJD who are trying to protect their leaders whose names figure in a report showing financial irregularities.