FIR against me BJP’s attempt to break alliance: Tejashwi Yadav

Patna: Bihar’s deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday rejected corruption charges against him and termed it a conspiracy by the BJP to break the alliance in Bihar.

Talking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting in Patna, Mr Yadav said that he had pledged zero tolerance on corruption the day he had joined office and always went out of his way to help poor and backward people.

Tejashwi Yadav is being groomed to succeed his father Lalu Yadav in Bihar politics and charges leveled against him may hamper his ambitions.

“FIR against me is a part of political vendetta. It’s a conspiracy by BJP chief Amit Shah and the Prime Minister to break the alliance in Bihar,” deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav said in Patna on Wednesday.

This was Tejashwi Yadav’s first public appearance after raids were conducted at his residence in Patna and other places. 

Mr Yadav also interacted with the chief minister for the first time on Wednesday during a Cabinet meeting.

“I am not resigning from the post and why should I resign when I know that cases registered against me are wrong?” Mr. Yadav said. He claimed that the CBI had registered the FIR against him in cases from 2004 when he was 14-year-old kid “with no moustache” and had no proper knowledge of scam and corruption.

“Can you imagine a child of 14 years of age whose moustache had not even come out getting involved in corruption and land scam? Cases against me are wrong,” Mr Yadav said.

He added, “The BJP was always scared of my father Lalu Yadav but now I know that they are also nervous to see my growth as a political leader.”

Mr Yadav’s attendance at the Cabinet meeting is also being considered significant because Nitish Kumar during a four-hour long JD (U) meeting on Tuesday had said he wanted a public clarification by RJD top leaders over the allegations and indicated that he expected Tejashwi Yadav to resign from the post.

The rift within the grand secular alliance deepened last Friday after CBI raided the premises of RJD chief Lalu and his family based on an FIR against him for allegedly acquiring a plot in Patna at cheaper rates by using his position as railway minister in 2006. Tejashwi Yadav is one of the owners of the plot on which a mall is being constructed.