Venting his ire on JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar for dumping the Grand Alliance, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday alleged that the Chief Minister had ‘conspired’ with the BJP to get graft cases filed against his family by central investigation agencies.
Addressing the media here after appearing before a CBI court in a fodder scam case, the RJD supremo suggested that his party could appeal in the Supreme Court against Bihar Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi's decision to invite Nitish Kumar to form the government with support from the BJP. Lalu argued that since the RJD was the single largest party in 243-member Bihar Assembly, it should have been given the opportunity first.
"Nitish Kumar has cheated the people of Bihar. I charge that he (Nitish Kumar) colluded with BJP to file CBI cases against me and my family," Lalu said, adding, "We are considering to appeal in Supreme court against Governor's decision. We are taking legal advice and will move court after that."
Lalu also blasted BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister, accusing him of running a campaign to damage the image of his family members.
The CBI, ED and the Income Tax department have filed cases of corruption against the family members of Lalu Prasad, including his wife Rabri Devi, his youngest son Tejashwi Yadav, who was Bihar Deputy Chief Minister until Wednesday, and daughter Misa Bharti.
Describing Nitish Kumar as 'Bhasmasur', Lalu Prasad said, "I made him the Chief Minister despite my party being the single biggest party in the state. I was not selfish."
Lalu Prasad's remarks came soon after Nitish Kumar and Sushil Kumar Modi took oath as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of the NDA government in Bihar.
"When I was facing allegations, Nitish Kumar never called me or showed any sympathy. Friends are known to be sympathetic during tough times, but Nitish Kumar never paid heed towards me," he claimed.
"Everything was fixed," Lalu Prasasd said, adding, "He is a very big opportunist. The mandate we got was against the BJP and the RSS. We jointly made them return empty handed from Bihar (during the 2015 Assembly election)."
He also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah were "jealous" of him. "They knew that my base is unshakable. I never gave Nitish Kumar any problems," he added.
