NDA accuses Lalu of land-for-job scam

The ruling NDA in Bihar demands an independent probe into the alleged “land-for-job” scam in the railways and asks Railway Minister Lalu Prasad to be sacked, reports Vijay Swaroop.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar has demanded an independent probe into the alleged “land-for-job” scam in the Railways and has asked Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad be sacked.

HT Image

The NDA plans to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the next 15 days with their demands. They have demanded a probe into Lalu’s assets.

“After the fodder scam, Lalu has not changed. This is another big scam in the making. He is a habitual offender and an example of fall in political values in the country,” JD (U) state president Rajiv Ranjan Singh said. He submitted over 500 land documents at a press conference organised at the party office on Tuesday, in follow up to a sting telecast by a TV channel on Sunday.

The channel had allegedly shown how the railway minister misused his position to acquire land for his relatives. The channel also alleged his colleagues Raghunath Jha and Kanti Singh had “gifted” land worth lakhs to Lalu’s son to get berths in the cabinet.

Singh said Lalu had been on a “land-grab spree” since he became railway minister. “The market value of land acquired through different means, be it in lieu of job or giving Railway property on lease or accepting land as gift would be more than Rs 100 crore,” Singh allleged.