The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday tore into the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Tejashwi Yadav for ‘jungle raj’ and graft during their rule in Bihar, saying no work of the party happens “without
corruption”.
The BJP’s jibe came just after the Bihar Mahagathbandhan announced Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial pick ahead of the assembly election scheduled next month. At a joint press conference in Patna, Tejashwi Yadav accused the government of using central agencies against him and other opposition bloc allies. Calling out the deteriorating law and order in the state, Tejashwi Yadav promised that if voted to power, “whoever does corruption will not be spared. We have to build a new and Viksit Bihar”.
Calling out the Mahagathbandhan for picking Tejashwi Yadav, Uttar Pradesh’s deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said the “grand alliance has entirely transformed into a grand coalition of deceit”.
“It is widely known that Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi are symbols of scams and jungle raj, as is Tejashwi Yadav. This trio is out on bail in scam-related cases. The government of Nitish Kumar-ji does not engage in land deeds in exchange for jobs,” Maurya said on X.
He added: “The Yadav family is currently riding on the back of the Gandhi family. There is considerable similarity between these two dynastic families when it comes to scams. Sonia Gandhi-Rabri Devi and Rahul Gandhi- Tejashwi Yadav are on bail. In such a scenario, the mask of these families has completely fallen in the eyes of the public. The grand alliance has entirely transformed into a grand coalition of deceit. The ambitions of this alliance, living in delusion, are not going to succeed. The public has full faith in the NDA. Their hopes rest solely on the illustrious Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and Nitish Kumar ji.”
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also took a dig at the opposition’s chief ministerial pick, saying: “Lalu Yadav is convicted in the fodder scam. The trial against Tejashwi Yadav will begin on October 27 in a Delhi court. It is alleged that during his father’s tenure as railway minister, contracts for IRCTC hotels were awarded in exchange for land. Tejashwi Yadav is accused under Section 420 (fraud/cheating). This is not an issue from our time; it has been going on since earlier. Take a job and give land—that’s their policy. None of their work happens without corruption.”
The BJP has kept up its attack against the RJD on the issue of corruption in the run-up to the elections, even as Tejashwi Yadav claims it is a “witch-hunt”. Tejashwi had earlier said he will fight the BJP as long as it is in power. “It is fun to fight storms. We have chosen the path of struggle, and we will reach our destination. We will fight and win, we are Biharis, we do not fear Baharis (outsiders),” he said.
