Amid the growing acrimony between RJD and JD(U) over the refusal of Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav to quit, his elder brother and Health Minister, Tej Pratap Yadav, received a jolt when the court lifted the stay order on cancellation of the allotment of petrol pump in his name. The Bharat Petroleum Company terminated the allotment of the outlet to lara Automobile owned by lalu Prasad’s elder son.
The authorities of the Bharat Petroleum swung into action following the order of the Patna High Court where the case was pending for over a month and sealed the outlet. Tej Pratap is accused of making false affidavit in 2011 that the land on which he wanted to open the outlet belonged to him. The 43 decimal land is situated on NH 30 in Patna’s New Bypass and Tej Pratap allegedly produced forged documents claiming ownership of the land. later on it was found that the land was leased in the name of his younger brother Tejashwi Prasad.
Tej Pratap also violated the affirmation that during the tenure of the dealership he would not take any employment nor draw any salary, perks, emoluments from State or Central Government.
BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who had raised this issue last month demanded that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sack Tej Pratap for cheating and fraud and filing false affidavit for personal gains. He further said the Health Minister concealed his 45 decimal land in Aurangabad worth Rs 54 lakh in his election affidavit in 2015. Modi has also petitioned the Election Commission for termination of the membership of Tej Pratap for hiding the facts and making a fraud. Tej Pratap is MlA from Mahua Assembly constituency.
Deputy CM Tejashwi is in the net of the CBI which searched his official premises and interrogated him for holding benami properties and also filed an FIR. He and his party has already declared that he would not resign.
For the RJD it is a double trouble as both the sons of lalu holding number two and three position in the Cabinet are accused in cases. Also, it is a testing time for Nitish who is finding himself in tight spot in the Mahagathbandhan with Opposition exerting pressure on him to act. Modi asked, “If Tej Pratap has given an affidavit that he would not avail any salary, perk and Government facilities the Government should clarify if he is drawing salary and perks in his capacity as Minister.”