Lalu’s gag order to party MLAs, Raghuvansh continues tirade

The RJD chief’s gag order has failed to silence senior party leader and former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who continued his attack against the JD(U)-led Grand Alliance government in Bihar.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad has asked party legislators to refrain from making provocative and unwarranted statements in the media.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad (HT file photo)

“Why speak baseless things and without approval of top leaders,” said Prasad, apparently peeved at the recent exchange of barbs with Janata Dal (United), an RJD ally, over the Bihar State Service Commission (BSSC) paper leak episode.

“Such provocations encourage rival parties to speak of a rift among the Grand Alliance (GA) constituents, which is not good,” he said in Patna on Tuesday.

Trashing speculations of growing rift between the two major partners in the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar, Prasad said, “Our alliance is intact. If MLAs have any grievance, they have a forum to sort it out. The chief minister had been listening to legislators on a fixed day to elicit their feedback on governance,” Prasad said.

The RJD chief’s gag order has, however, failed to silence senior party leader and former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who continued to go hammer and tongs against the JD(U)-led Grand Alliance government over “series of irregularities ”.in conduct of competitive examinations.

“The administration has failed to put the right person in the right place. This is why, such scams surface in conduct of competitive examinations. This is not right,” Singh said, adding that the administration must be toned up immediately.

Singh’s censure of the government came a day after RJD and JD(U) leaders exchanged barbs over demand for a CBI inquiry into irregularities in BSSC examination to recruit clerks.

RJD’s Bhai Birendra had said the government should hand over the probe to the CBI as there was possibility of a big scam in the recruitment process.

JD(U) leaders were quick to counter the RJD MLA, saying that he should have faith in the state government, instead of questioning its decision.

“If the RJD MLA is not satisfied with the probe by the special investigating team into the alleged question leak, he is free to go to court,” JD(U) spokesman Neeraj Kumar said. RJD leaders were embarrassing the government by making frivolous statements, he added.