News Analysis India

Tag: RJD

  • Grand Alliance to organise human chain in Bihar against farm laws

    By PTI
    PATNA: The opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar on Friday declared it will organise a human chain across the state on Saturday to express solidarity with the farmers agitating against the farm laws.

    Making the announcement at a press conference here, leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav trained his guns at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, questioning his “silence” on the legislations which “hold out the spectre of reducing farmers to beggars”.

    “We are baffled by the chief ministers reluctance to state where he stands on the issue. Does he think the agitating farmers are justified in hitting the streets or does he share the BJPs position that they are committing a mistake? it is hard to believe that Nitish Kumar has his roots in the socialist movement”, Yadav fumed.

    The former Deputy CM deplored the failure of the chief minister, as also Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to come out with “even a tweet” expressing sympathy for the agitating farmers many of whom have lost their lives staging demonstrations close to the national capital despite biting cold.

    Flaying the NDA government in Bihar for having scrapped APMCs over a decade ago, Yadav alleged “this had reduced farmers to labourers. The central laws will convert them, like cultivators elsewhere, into beggars”.

    Kumar’s government had abolished Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act in 2006 and also ended the mandi (wholesale markets for agricultural produce) system.

    He claimed that while his RJD was in power and the state was ruled, first by his father Lalu Prasad and subsequently mother Rabri Devi, farmers were better off as they often sold their produce at prices higher than the MSP.

    Decrying the use of force on many occasions to quell the stir in and around Delhi, the RJD leader said “it is for the first time in the country that the chants of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ have been jettisoned and jawans are being pitted against kisan (farmers).

    “It is tragic, since most of our armed forces personnel come from agricultural backgrounds”.

    He also alleged that protests were being suppressed in similar fashion by the government in the state and cited the example of a recent police circular which stated offensive social media posts would be treated as “cyber crime” to buttress his point.

    Yadav, whose promise of “10 lakh government jobs” is widely believed to have boosted prospect of the RJD as well as the five-party opposition coalition in assembly polls,also slammed the state government for setting up committees to assess performance of 50 years plus employees with the supposed aim to retrench those who were not found up to the mark.

    Representatives from other grand alliance constituents Congress, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(ML) also spoke on the occasion.

  • Fodder Scam: Lalu Yadav has to wait for another week as hearing on bail deferred till February 5

    Express News Service
    RANCHI: Jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav will have to wait for another week as hearing on his bail application in the fodder scam case was deferred till February 5.

    The Court of Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh was hearing a bail application filed by Yadav in a case related to illegal withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from Dumka Treasury.

    The bail application has been filed in Jharkhand High Court on the ground that the RJD chief has completed half of his sentencing pronounced by the court in RC 38A/96 related to Dumka Treasury.

    “The CBI counsel sought time on the ground of taking instructions from the department which was allowed by the Court. CBI has been asked to file a reply to the supplementary affidavit filed by us before the next hearing,” said RJD Chief’s advocate Prabhat Kumar. The case will further be taken up next on February 5, he added.

    Kumar further added that according to their calculation, the Yadav has completed more than half of the sentencing awarded to him in Dumka Treasury and believed that he will be granted bail by the Court.”To rule out any suspicion, orders of the trail sheet have been attached with the supplementary affidavit,” said the advocate.

    Meanwhile, looking at deteriorating health conditions, the former Bihar CM is a chronic patient of hypertension, diabetes, heart, kidney, and several other ailments, he has been shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi after he complained of problem in breathing.

    After being convicted by a Special CBI Court in Ranchi on December 23, 2017, in the second fodder scam case involving the illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury, the 72-year-old leader was lodged in Birsa Munda Central jail in Ranchi but was shifted to RIMS on August 29, 2018, looking at his deteriorating health conditions.

    Yadav, so far, has been convicted in four out of the five cases related to multi-crore fodder scam cases related to Chaibasa Treasury (RC20A/96) on September 30, 2013, another Chaibasa Treasury (RC68A/96) on January 24, 2018, Deoghar Treasury (RC 64A/96) on February 23, 2018 and Dumka Treasury (RC38A/96) on February 19.

    RC 47A/96, related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.35 crore from Doranda treasury in Ranchi, is still pending in a Special CBI Court in Ranchi. The RJD Chief has already secured bail in Deoghar Treasury (RC 64A/96), Chaibasa Treasury (RC 68A/96) and another Chaibasa Treasury (RC20A/96) related case.

  • Lalu Prasad Yadav seeks early hearing of bail petition in Dumka treasury case

    By PTI
    RANCHI: Jailed RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Monday sought an early hearing of his bail petition in the Dumka treasury embezzlement case of the fodder scam.

    Filing Prasad’s reply before the Jharkhand High Court, his counsel Devarshi Mandal said that his client has completed more than half of the jail term awarded by a CBI court in the case and he should get bail.

    Prasad has been air-lifted to Delhi for better treatment at AIIMS after his health condition deteriorated.

    Mandal said Prasad has requested an early hearing of his bail petition.

    The RJD supremo will walk out of the jail if he gets bail in the Dumka treasury case as he has secured bail in the other three fodder scam cases.

    Mandal said Prasad’s medical reports from AIIMS will also be filed before the court.

  • Former RJD MLA Kunti Devi gets life sentence in eight-year-old murder case

    By PTI
    GAYA: A court here on Monday awarded life sentence to former RJD MLA Kunti Devi in an eight-year-old murder case.

    Additional District and Sessions Judge Sangam Singh held the former MLA guilty of involvement in the murder of Sumirak Yadav, a worker of the JD(U) who was beaten to death on February 26, 2013.

    An FIR was lodged in this connection by the brother of the deceased who had alleged that the attackers were Kunti Devi’s henchmen and blamed political rivalry for the killing.

    Kunti Devi has been a two-term MLA from Atri seat in the district.

    The seat is at present held by her son Ajay Yadav.

    She had first won the seat in 2005 but lost it to the JD(U) five years later.

    In the 2015, when her party fought the elections in alliance with the JD(U), she was back as the MLA.

    The court also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on the former MLA and ruled that failure to pay the same would cause her to spend an additional year in jail.

  • Jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad admitted to AIIMS-Delhi after condition deteriorates

    Express News Service
    RANCHI: Considering the deteriorating health condition of jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, authorities decided to shift him to AIIMS, Delhi. He was taken to Delhi from Ranchi on a special flight on Saturday. He was accompanied by a team of doctors and family members, including wife Rabri Devi and son Tejaswi. As of now, he will be in Delhi for a month.

    The decision to shift the 72-year-old was taken by an eight-member medical board on Friday. Tests confirmed that he is suffering from pneumonia. Lalu also has hypertension, diabetes, heart and kidney ailments. He had complained of breathing problems on Thursday, following which a Covid-19 test was done. The report came negative.

    The former CM of Bihar also underwent high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), which indicated a lung infection. A medical board headed by Dr Umesh Prasad was constituted to review his condition. “He will be shifted to AIIMS for better treatment. A team of doctors will be present with him,” said Dr Prasad, who was leading the team of doctors taking care of him at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).

    After being convicted by a Special CBI court in Ranchi in 2017, in the second fodder scam case involving the illegal withdrawal of `89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury, the RJD chief was lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi before being shifted to RIMS in August 2018 due to health conditions.

  • DM sahib, this is Tejashwi Yadav: A call from RJD that left Patna official stumped 

    By PTI
    PATNA: The caller divulges his identity over the telephone, causing the voice of the peremptory bureaucrat on the line to quiver, as crowds erupt in cheers.

    The video of the telephonic exchange between RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh, that took place on Wednesday night, has gone viral on the social media.

    It was a rare display of assertiveness in public by Yadav, who happens to be the unchallenged leader of the opposition in the state where the recent assembly elections saw him coming out of his father Lalu Prasad’s shadow and steer his party to an impressive performance.

    The 31-year-old leader had dialled the officer’s number from the Eco Park here, where hundreds of protesters, all Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) pass job aspirants, had gathered.

    The agitators, who had cleared their tests in 2019, have been staging a protest for a number of days at Gardanibagh, which has been designated as a “dharna sthal” by the district administration.

    They were seeking appointment as government teachers, in accordance with a Patna High Court direction.

    On Wednesday, a skirmish had led to their being driven away from Gardanibagh and their food and other belongings, kept at a stadium nearby, were also allegedly thrown away.

    Learning that the agitators were squatting at the Eco Park, adjacent to the secretariat, in the thick of the winter night, Yadav who stays a kilometre away drove to the spot in a show of solidarity.

    He telephoned the DM and apprised him of the situation following which the officer asked him to send the details on WhatsApp.

    Yadav, who was making the call with his phone’s loudspeaker on, asked the DM by what time could remedial action be expected.

    “What do you mean by what time? You have not even sent me the details so far,” snapped the officer.

    Realizing that the DM was, perhaps unmindful of the identity of the caller’s identity, Yadav said emphatically, “DM sahib, this is Tejashwi Yadav”, evoking the word “sir” multiple times from the recipient of the call who obviously sounded spooked.

    The crowd clapped wildly and the enthused young leader spoke into the phone: “Please do the needful at the earliest else I will have to join these people in their dharna at the Eco Park”.

    More claps and whistles followed.

    A video clip of the animated exchange has left the social media abuzz.

    At a press conference on Thursday, when asked about the incident, Yadav said, “The attitude of the officer was simply a reflection on the insensitivity of the Nitish Kumar government.”

    “People do not get their rights unless they are ready to pay RCP tax,” he quipped referring to his often repeated allegations against the Bihar Chief Minister’s key aide and JD(U) president RCP Singh.

    “But we have a duty towards people as the opposition. We will make the government heed their voice,” he asserted.

  • Tejashwi meets Bihar Governor, hands over memorandum on ‘deteriorating’ law and order

    By PTI
    PATNA: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday met Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan and handed over a memorandum highlighting the alleged deterioration in the state’s law and order situation.

    Yadav, leader of the opposition in the state assembly, visited the Raj Bhavan heading a delegation of senior RJD leaders.

    “The governor took a serious note of the points made by us in the memorandum and gave the assurance of his intervention,” Yadav later told reporters.

    In the two-page memorandum, the former deputy chief minister alleged that as per the NCRB figures, the number of cognisable offences reported in the state grew more than two- fold between 2005, when Nitish Kumar took over as the chief minister, and 2019.

    He also highlighted the failure of the police in nabbing those involved in the murder of Rupesh Kumar Singh, a well-connected airline official who was gunned down by unidentified assailants in Patna last week.

    “We reiterate that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has become tired and helpless and incapable of handling his responsibilities. He holds the Home portfolio and knows it well enough that his claims of rule of law are hollow,” Yadav said.

  • Nitish under pressure in NDA, should return to Grand Alliance: Congress

    A statement to the effect was made by Congress Legislature Party leader Ajeet Sharma, though it was promptly dismissed as being quot;not official quot; by the RJD.

  • Will meet President over law and order situation in Bihar: Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav

    Express News Service
    PATNA:   The RJD-led opposition parties in the state have taken up the recent murder of an airline official to slam the NDA government in Bihar. Indigo airline’s Patna airport head Rupesh Kumar Singh was shot dead near his house by unidentified men on last Tuesday.

    Addressing a hurriedly called press meeting on Saturday, Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav said if the government fails to control crimes in the state in next one month, the entire Opposition, led by the RJD, would go to Delhi and lodge a complaint with the President of India.

    Slamming the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government, Yadav alleged that crimes like murder, loot, kidnap and rape have increased to an “unprecedented extent” in Bihar but the state government has refused to accept the “alarming” law and order problem.

    “Bihar is becoming the crime capital of the country but the state government has failed to check it. What to speak about the plight of common people. The state government does not hear even the people’s representatives. Government officials are not picking the calls from anyone including media,” Yadav alleged, adding that if crimes are not checked within next month, the Opposition will meet the President to apprise him of the state government’s failure in maintaining the law and order.

    Citing social media posts, he alleged that hand of influential ministers and other leaders in the murder cannot be ruled out.

  • JD-U to RJD: Cross-defection fears drive Bihar’s political parties into a frenzy

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Despite the end of ‘kharmas’ (a period under which no auspicious work is done as per Hindu calendar) on Makar Sankranti, the fear of cross ‘defection’ continues to plague all political parties in Bihar.

    On Thursday, state’s JD-U chief Umesh Kushwaha dropped a bombshell predicting a major breakup within the RJD-led Grand Alliance in the next few days.

    Recently, an ex-MLA from Congress, Bharat Singh, had also expressed worry that 11 out of 19 MLAs could switch over to the saffron side.

    Senior RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari however denied any possibility of distress in the party and claimed that many from the ruling alliance instead were keen on jumping ship after being disgruntled with the state of affairs. 

    Shyam Rajak also claimed that 17 MLAs of the ruling party were hobnobbing with him to switch over to RJD after January 14, a claim JD-U quashed.

    The NDA has formed the government under the leadership of Nitish Kumar with a thin majority and support of two smaller allies – with 4 MLAs from VIP, another 4 from HAM, and 1 independent.

    Concerns over defection, both in the NDA and opposition, gained momentum after the Arunachal Pradesh incident, and have since caught the parties by a frenzy. 

    For RJD in particular, fear of a split has intensified in the wake of JDU MP of Lok Sabha Rajiv Ranjan Singh’s (alias Lallan Singh) support to Bhupendra Yadav’s claim about major desertion of MLAs from RJD.

    Inside sources from both GA and NDA however claim that all parties are treading with caution.