Lalu’s plan B: Promote Tej Pratap to deputy CM Congress throws its weight behind ex-CM, Nitish mum
WAIT AND WATCH POLICY If Tejashwi Prasad gets arrested or removed by Nitish Kumar in land for railways hotels scam, RJD chief may push his elder son as the deputy chief minister
What will happen to the coveted deputy chief minister’s position in the Bihar government if the CBI arrests incumbent Tejashwi Prasad Yadav along with his father, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, in the alleged railway hotels-for-land scam?
This question had been haunting Lalu ever since the central agency raided a dozen places owned by his family, including their Patna residence, in this connection on Friday. However, the RJD chief and his aides have now struck upon a likely solution to this problem.
“Tej Pratap’s position as the health minister makes him the number three in the cabinet. He can be promoted to the number two slot in case of any exigency,” said a senior party leader on the condition of anonymity. He pointed out that Tej Pratap – Lalu’s eldest son – has not been indicted in the alleged scam.
The party leader asserted that nobody other than a member of Lalu’s family could become the deputy chief minister, a post equivalent to a cabinet minister created in the Grand Alliance government that came to power in Bihar on November 8, 2015.
A day after Tejashwi was named in an FIR filed by the CBI, the RJD leadership unanimously decided that they will not yield to the BJP’s attempts to get him and Tej Pratap ousted from the cabinet. While the deputy chief minister indicated their intent to stand firm during a press meet on Friday, other RJD leaders confirmed it the following day.
Lalu has termed the raids as an act of political vendetta by the BJP-led NDA government. “We do not know if the chief minister will demand Tejashwi’s resignation over the CBI’s FIR, but our stand is clear – Tejashwi will not resign on his own,” said an RJD leader, citing a previous instance of Union minister Uma Bharti holding on to her ministerial post even after being chargesheeted in a criminal case.
The RJD’s stand on Lalu’s sons not quitting the Nitish ministry is likely to put the JD(U) in a tight spot. This is seen as the reason for no JD(U) leader of any significance reacting to the CBI raids so far.
The Congress state leadership came out in support of Lalu. “Tejashwi was a minor when the hotel deals happened. Why was he named in the FIR?” asked Ashok Choudhary, state Congress president and Bihar education minister, on Saturday.
Grand Alliance sources attributed the Congress’ backing to its need for RJD support in the presidential election on July 17.
Even as the ruling Janata Dal (U) continued to maintain a studied silence on the CBI raids on Lalu Prasad and his family members, the other partner of the Grand Alliance in Bihar, the Congress, extended its support to the RJD “in its hour of crisis.”
Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is at Rajgir reportedly due to health reasons, extended his stay and was likely to return by Sunday evening or Monday morning. On the other hand, Congress leaders flocked to Lalu’s residence soon after opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar left Patna.
“The BJP government is targeting all those who oppose it. Everybody knows the credentials of (BJP chief) Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Bihar Congress president Ashok Choudhary.
He backed Prasad’s defence that his son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad, who was among those against whom the CBI had filed an FIR, was a minor at the time of the allotment of licences of lease for two IRCTC hotels (in 2006) to the Kochhar brothers, at Ranchi and Puri, allegedly in exchange for land in Patna.
Congress Legislature Party leader Sadanand Singh also visited Lalu’s residence to express his solidarity. The Congress central leadership had, in Delhi, called the CBI “a captive puppet” of the BJP-led NDA government and accused it of acting like its “dirty tricks department” to seek revenge against political opponents.
The Congress’ backing for Lalu Prasad showed its compulsion to make common cause with the RJD chief ahead of the Presidential poll and the uncertainty over the JD(U)’s next move.
THE RJD’S STAND ON LALU’S SONS NOT QUITTING THE NITISH MINISTRY IS LIKELY TO PUT THE JD(U) IN A TIGHT SPOT