Reacting for the first time on the charges of corruption hurled at his ally lalu Prasad, on Monday Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said those levelling allegations should take legal recourse if they think their charges come under legal scrutiny.
When asked about the allegations made by senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on RJD supremo, the CM said everything floating was based on mere allegations and have not been probed by any agency.
“No issue raised by them concerns the Bihar Government so where is the question of ordering any enquiry by me. These are only allegations and lalu and his RJD have already replied to them. Both factions have levelled charges on each other. If BJP thinks its charges are true and can be proved legally it should go ahead through legal recourse,” said Nitish on the sidelines of his weekly lok Samwad programme. He said most of the cases seemingly related to Company law and were beyond State’s jurisdiction.
But he added that such issues were being raked up by the Opposition and highlighted by the media aiming at diverting public attention from the works being done by his Government. “If media thinks it has influenced me and impacted public, it is wrong. I am doing my job uninterrupted and people are influenced by our works,” he said..
Asked that some of his Ministers have concealed their financial transactions and assets in their annual declaration, the CM shot back, “This question should be asked to them.” But hadded that he believed all the Ministers have disclosed their assets in the format. The question was related to Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and his brother and Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav. Tejashwi was present at the press briefing.
The CM said, in 2011, he had made it mandatory to file declaration by all the Ministers, legislators and Government employees from Class III to top rank officials and it were put in public domain. If media has any report that anybody concealed information it should inquire into it, he said. However, he said that this declaration was not bound by law and was only moral and ethical. Nitish also refused to comment on the charges of alleged money laundering through shell companies by lalu’s kin.