Not surprising, says Tejashwi Yadav on ED questioning his mother Rabri Devi

PATNA: Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said there was nothing surprising about the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioning his mother and former chief minister Rabri Devi, saying it only reflected how the “(Bharatiya Janata Party) BJP was scared about Bihar after facing defeat in Karnataka assembly polls”.

“After the Karnataka poll debacle, the BJP is scared about Bihar. So, all these things are going on with an eye on 2024 parliamentary polls,” Yadav said, linking Rabri Devi’s questioning by ED on Thursday to the BJP’s political setback in Karnataka. The Congress won 135 of Karnataka’s 224 seats; party veteran Siddaramaiah will take oath as chief minister on Saturday.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader continued. “They might put my name in the case in the future. This is happening for a long time. I feel the investigating agencies have lost count of how many times they have raided our premises and re-opened closed cases. These things are going on for a long time. People are watching everything,” he said.

The case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED relates to allegations that substitutes were appointed in Group D jobs in Central Railways during 2004-09 in violation of norms and procedures of the Indian Railways for recruitment. The candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to Lalu’s family at discounted rates of up to one-fourth to one-fifth of prevailing market rates.

Most of the properties were allegedly sold by candidates either to Rabri Devi, wife of Lalu Prasad, or Misa Bharti, while a four-storey house in New Friends Colony in Delhi, where Tejashwi Yadav resides, was given to a company linked to the Yadav family at throwaway prices, the probe agencies have claimed.

The Yadav family denies the allegation, insisting that they were being framed by central agencies because the BJP wants to get back at them.