8 questions Nitish Kumar must answer
Pressure is mounting on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to sack his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, who, along with his father Lalu Prasad Yadav, is facing charges in connection with an alleged land-for-hotels scandal.
The Janata Dal (United) has asked Tejashwi Yadav to give a “fact-wise reply in public” to the corruption charges hurled at him. According to reports, during a meeting of JDU legislators and workers, chief minister Nitish Kumar invoked several examples to stress his commitment towards probity and accountability in governance.
Reportedly, Nitish recounted his resignation from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government on moral grounds after a train accident. He also recalled the resignations by BJP leader LK Advani and his party colleague Sharad Yadav during the Hawala scandal of the 1990s. The Bihar chief minister also cited other resignations of ministers during his previous tenures to stress on his zero-tolerance against corruption.
It is also a fact that Nitish Kumar enjoys a taint-free image so far and is known as "Mr Clean". But how committed he is to his zero-tolerance against corruption? Here are a few questions for him on his policy:
1. The CBI raided the premises of Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family on July 7. But no one heard a single word either from Nitish Kumar or his party leaders on the issue till July 11. Why did it take more than four days to speak about it now?
2. Nitish left the NDA in 2013, and later allied with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. Did he not know that Lalu Prasad was in 2013 convicted for corruption cases?
3. Was he not aware that the issue of land-for-hotel scam was first raised by his minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and then senior JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwary during a press conference on August 12, 2008?
4. Was he also not aware that his party’s then president Sharad Yadav and Lalan Singh had submitted a memorandum containing 600 pages of documents to the then PM Manmohan Singh seeking action against Lalu's for the alleged land deals as a railway minister?
5. One of the biggest reasons for the Congress’s defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha elections was allegations of serious corruption. Yet, why did Nitish and his party choose to ally with a tainted party in Bihar?
6. His leader and mentor, George Fernandes, resigned as defence minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet in 2001 after the tehelka sting operation to expose corruption in defence purchases. But why was he re-inducted into the cabinet without getting a clean chit?
7. Did he not know about the criminal (including corruption) cases against people like Anant Singh and Sunil Pandey? Why did they repeatedly get the party’s ticket and become MLAs?
8. Why is Nitish supporting Ram Nath Kovind, who has given affidavit to court in support of Bangaru Laxman in Tehelka scam?
Let's hope we do get an answer to all these questions!