If two wrongs could make one right, then the unfolding political drama in Bihar could be justified. With the new Bihar state legislative assembly elections barely months away, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has suddenly become active. The entire Lalu Prasad Yadav family was summoned and questioned recently in the Land for Job scam.
Lalu Prasad Yadav was not the only minister accused of corruption during the decade-long Manmohan Singh government at the Centre. The likes of P. Chidambaram and A. Raja are breathing free, while an impression is being created that Lalu and his family are more corrupt than others.
The timing of the ED crackdown on Lalu and his family is questionable. There is no denying that the Land for Job scam took place rather blatantly during Lalu’s tenure as the country’s railway minister between 2004 and 2009. Allegedly, jobs were offered to hundreds in exchange for the job seekers’ families transferring land ownership to the Yadav family. Suddenly, they amassed a huge land bank to the extent that his two sons, Tej Pratap and Tejashwi, had the audacity to start construction of the LaRa Mall, named after their parents Lalu and Rabri, in the heart of Bihar’s capital city, Patna, on land procured through questionable means.
The scam took place long ago. The Narendra Modi government has been in power at the Centre for 11 years. However, the ED and other investigative agencies were going slow all these years and now seem to have become super active, as if they have a deadline to meet. The focus is not much on Lalu, Rabri, or his other children, but on Lalu’s youngest of nine children, Tejashwi Yadav. Reportedly, the ED questioned him about the sources of funds for his opulent house in South Delhi’s posh New Friends Colony locality. Tejashwi bought this four-floor bungalow for almost nothing in 2008 while Lalu was the railway minister. The market value of the property was estimated at ₹150 crore two years ago. Now, questions are bound to be raised if such a huge property could be bought for as low as ₹4 lakh.
It is established beyond doubt that Lalu Prasad is among the most corrupt politicians in India. He figured prominently in the Fodder Scam, in which crores of rupees were syphoned off from the government treasury for the fake purchase of cattle fodder. He was a prime accused and was awarded 14 years of imprisonment. He has been out on bail since 2018, with no effort being made to send him back to jail due to political reasons. Lalu’s mental ability has declined, and his controversial statements only embarrass the regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which he founded and continues to head. The real target is Tejashwi Yadav, as he alone is seen as capable of coming in the way of the BJP having its chief minister in Bihar after the October-November assembly elections.
There is a clear and discernible parallel between Delhi and Bihar. The central law enforcement agencies came down hard on the then Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor scam. He and some of his close associates were put behind bars and declared guilty in the public eye, even though the court has yet to pronounce its judgement. Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party lost the Delhi polls earlier this year, and the BJP returned to power in the national capital after over a quarter of a century.
Having tasted blood and success, the same formula is being used to conquer Bihar, where the ruling NDA is expecting a challenge due to the declining popularity and health of incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The BJP sees a real chance to have its first chief minister in Bihar, which is possible only if the RJD, under Tejashwi’s leadership, is discredited and derailed.
Like his father Lalu Yadav—who cannot explain how a poor man’s son, who worked as a clerk and lived in a peon’s quarter of Bihar Veterinary College, became a billionaire despite being a full-time politician with no business—Tejashwi, too, will find it hard to explain his wealth. He served as the deputy chief minister twice under Nitish Kumar when the latter ditched the BJP and veered closer to his old friend Lalu. During Lalu and Rabri Devi’s rule in Bihar, the only development the state witnessed was the growth of the Yadav family’s bank balance and properties, alongside the politicisation of criminals. People fear that if Tejashwi becomes the chief minister, Bihar could be in for another spell of jungle raj. And therein lies the BJP’s best chance.
One should not be surprised if Tejashwi is arrested like Kejriwal just a few months before the scheduled election. And there is enough for the ED to do so, given his shady dealings in the name of shell companies. If this happens, it should sound alarm bells for other opposition-ruled states. Kejriwal, Lalu, and Tejashwi are just the faces of the deep-rooted political corruption that has traumatised India all these years. Putting corrupt politicians behind bars is necessary, but not the selective use of corruption charges against them, that too, just before elections.
Ajay Jha is a senior journalist, author and political commentator.
