BJP slams mahagathbandhan government in the State as Deputy CM Tejashwi’s aide too seen in a meeting
BJP slams mahagathbandhan government in the State as Deputy CM Tejashwi’s aide too seen in a meeting
A controversy has erupted over Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder son-in-law attending an official meeting of the Bihar government and a political aide of the State’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav being present in another official meeting.
The BJP, while slamming the government, asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar whether he has allowed son-in-laws and political aides of Ministers to attend official meetings in his government.
Pictures of Lalu Prasad’s elder son-in-law Shailesh Kumar and Mr. Tejashwi’s aide Sanjay Yadav attending official meetings have gone viral on social media. They were also shared on Twitter by State BJP leaders Sushil Kumar Modi and Nikhil Anand.
Mr. Shailesh, the husband of Mr. Lalu’s elder daughter and RJD Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti, is seen in the picture attending a meeting of the Bihar State Pollution Control Board in Patna on August 18 along with Minister Tej Pratap Yadav and other officials.
Mr. Shailesh is said to be close to Mr. Lalu’s elder son and Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Tej Pratap. In the previous mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government (2015-2017) too he was often seen with the then Health Minister Tej Pratap.
Similarly, a picture of Mr. Sanjay, a political aide of Mr. Tejashwi, attending an official meeting too surfaced on Friday. Mr. Sanjay is seen sitting along with Mr. Tejashwi and other senior department officials, allegedly in an official meeting of State Health Department. Mr. Tejashwi Yadav is also the State’s Health Minister.
Mr. Sanjay has been a long-time political adviser of Mr. Tejashwi. It is also said that Mr. Sanjay had played an important role in chalking out negotiations with the JD(U) in the formation of the new mahagathbandhan government in the State. Earlier, Tej Pratap Yadav had accused Mr. Sanjay of causing disagreements between him and his younger brother, Mr. Tejashwi.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav had taken oath of office on August 10 after the formation of the new mahagathbandhan government in the State while the other 31 Ministers were sworn in on August 16 with their portfolios allocated the same day.
BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi slammed the mahagathbandhan government while tweeting pictures of both Mr. Shailesh and Mr. Sanjay attending official meetings. “Has Chief Minister Nitish Kumar allowed son-in-laws, brother-in-laws and political advisers of ministers to attend official meetings?” he asked.
“Tej Pratap remains in the news for all the wrong reasons and now as a Minister he seems to have outsourced his duties to his brother-in-law,” Mr. Sushil Modi alleged, adding that “This is an RJD government and things like this will continue to happen and CM Nitish Kumar will have no option but to just look at it.” “Shailesh Kumar was not only attending the meeting but even conducting it,” alleged Mr. Modi, “but no official will dare to say anything on this.”
BJP leader Nikhil Anand tweeted, “Shailesh Kumar is not only the brother-in-law of Tej Pratap Yadav but he is the most talented, knowledgeable and understanding person compared to all the Ministers of the RJD quota and if he continues to bless Tej Pratap, he (Tej Pratap) will surely prove to be the best Minister of the Nitish Cabinet,” Mr. Anand’s tongue-in-cheek tweet said.
