Sushil vs Lalu: Trading benami land charges
Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi on Sunday came out with a fresh allegation against Lalu Prasad and his family saying that the RJD chief's wife had acquired land worth a few crores in lieu of which favours were allegedly granted. The senior BJP leader alleged that Ramashray Prasad Yadav was made chairman of Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and Mohammad Shamim was nominated as an MLC from the governor's quota when the RJD was in power.
Ramashray Prasad Yadav was the chairman of BPSC from January 1991 to January 1997 when Prasad was the chief minister while Mohammad Shamim was nominated as MLC from the governor's quota in 1998 when Rabri Devi was the chief minister, Sushil Modi said. The deputy chief minister was flanked by the state BJP vice president Devesh Kumar, party chief whip and MLA Arun Kumar Sinha and Nitin Navin, also an MLA.
Modi alleged that Ramashray Prasad Yadav, first of all, registered a plot of land measuring 6,726sq-ft at Saguna Mor area in Patna worth over Rs 2.0 crore to one Mohammad Shamim and his wife Sofia Tabbasum in 1993-94. On May 13, 2005, Shamim and his wife Tabbasum gave the “power of attorney” to Rabri Devi who in her election affidavit showed the property as her own asset, Modi said.
He asked as to why did Rabri Devi mention in her affidavit that it was her asset when she was just given power of attorney of the said property? “We have come across the various innovative ways and means of acquiring properties by Lalu Prasad. So far we have seen that Prasad and his family have been acquiring properties through shell companies, gifts, direct registration of land but now he has devised a new and innovative way of acquiring land through 'power of attorney’,” Modi said. Taking a jibe at Lalu Prasad, the senior BJP leader said that he (Lalu) must be rewarded for coming out with new and innovative ideas of acquiring land, the ideas which even agencies like Income Tax cannot think of.
Modi wondered as how can Rabri Devi, a former chief minister, be made the caretaker of the land of one Mohammad Shamim as it is the other way round that people normally become caretakers of the property of former CMs. Meanwhile, the RJD chief dodged a query about Modi's allegations at a press conference in the capital. Prasad, however, said that all the documents about his property are in public domain. RJD Bihar unit spokesman and MLA Shakti Singh Yadav said that "Sushil Modi's allegations vis-a-vis Lalu Prasad's family is concocted. He has not said anything new as everything is in the public domain." The spokesman said: "We have been demanding independent probe into the charges levelled by RJD against Sushil Modi's relatives-Mahavir Modi and R K Modi- who have acquired benami properties through shell companies. The Centre should conduct that investigation.”
Ramashray Prasad Yadav was the chairman of BPSC from January 1991 to January 1997 when Prasad was the CM while Mohammad Shamim was nominated as MLC from the governor's quota in 1998 when Rabri Devi was CM, Sushil Modi said