RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav (ANI photo)
NEW DELHI: RJD scion and the Mahagathbandhan’s newly announced chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav on Friday struck back at the NDA for highlighting court cases against him, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s own remarks to question the bloc’s record, saying, “The Prime Minister himself listed 55 scams of Nitish Kumar. What action has been taken?”Turning the spotlight on crime in BJP-ruled states, Tejashwi raised the stakes on the long-standing “jungle raj” accusation. He alleged that lawlessness is rampant and that BJP-governed states top the national crime charts.
He said, “When scams are happening and no action is being taken, that is jungle raj. There is not a single day in Bihar where there are no shootings, murders, looting, rapes, kidnappings…Uttar Pradesh has the highest crime rate in the entire country. Bihar is second. The top five BJP-ruled states in the entire country have the highest crime rate. What are they doing there?”He also took a swipe at BJP’s political strategy, claiming the party is focused more on Gujarat than Bihar: “They only want to misuse the agencies. They will set up factories in Gujarat and want victory in Bihar; this is not going to happen.”Tejashwi added, “We don’t make broken, fragmented or false promises. We will do what we say… If Tejashwi Yadav becomes the Chief Minister, the people of Bihar will also become the Chief Minister. We will make Bihar free from crime and corruption…”The RJD leader’s rebuttal comes a day after senior BJP leader and MP Ravi Shankar Prasad publicly targeted him. Speaking at a press conference following Tejashwi’s announcement as the Mahagathbandhan’s CM face, Prasad said,”Now, when we come to Tejashwi Yadav, two orders have been issued by the Delhi high court…The court examined all the matters and declared that this (IRCTC hotels corruption case) is a serious case of corruption and 420… Tejashwi Yadav, you are accused under Section 420 of the IPC. The sentence is seven years. Your claim that you won’t tolerate corruption needs to be addressed… The people of Bihar, be careful. These 2.60 crores households of Bihar, to whom they are talking about giving permanent jobs, their (RJD) background is such that it will make your whole life miserable. None of their work is done without corruption, and I am giving proof of all this…”The verbal duel between the two camps has intensified in recent days, following the finalisation of the seat-sharing deal and as the state gears up for polling.Bihar, the fourth-largest assembly in India, will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with counting scheduled for November 14.
