NDA Hints at Possible Enquiry into RJD's Fund Source
Patna: Oct. 27, 2007
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Saturday, accused the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav of misusing the railway machinery to drum up support for his so-called 'Chetawani Rally' in Patna on Sunday while promoting himself by using the railways for his own political gains.
"We are not opposed to political rallies. In fact, we have made elaborate arrangements to ensure the rally is come to a conclusion without any untoward incident but that does not give Lalu Prasad Yadav right to abuse government machineries like the Railways," Kumar told the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile in Patna, both Janata Dal (U) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders accused the the Railway Minister of blatantly abusing his power as the Central Minister.
"Yadav can go on arranging rallies after rallies with whatever funny names he wishes; he cannot fool the people of Bihar anymore. People have had enough of his 'nautankis' and wish him to simply go away and leave Bihar to prosper under the able leadership of Nitish Kumar," said JD-U national spokesperson and Lalu's ardent critic Shivanand Tiwari.
BJP leaders, on the other hand, demanded to know the source of money needed to fund the so-called 'Chetawani Rally'.
"RJD leaders are saying that more than 30 lakh people are expected to attend the rally. We would like to know where is Lalu getting the money from to support that many people for one day," BJP spokesperson Vinod Narayan Jha asked.
"Is this money part of the multi-crore rupees fodder scam illegally diverted by Lalu and his cohorts or the money is coming from extortion of businessmen and private railway contractors?" Jha demanded to know.
"If Lalu thinks these issues will not be investigated then apparently he has not learnt his lesson yet. We will go to the Election Commission, Information Bureau, and any court in India to find out the source of Rs.50 crore that Lalu is spending on this rally", he said.
Other senior NDA leaders have also talked about a CBI enquiry into Lalu's income and possibility of money-laundering by siphoning money from the Indian Railways.
There is already a talk of Yadav paying off villagers hefty amount of cash to show up at the rally in an attempt to display his might in Bihar.
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