Bihar: Grand Alliance leaders asks Modi govt not to 'misuse' central agencies against regional parties' leaders

PATNA: Stung by the recent CBI raids at the premises of five RJD leaders in Bihar, all allies of the Grand Alliance on Sunday held their first joint press conference after formation of the new government and asked the Narendra Modi government at the Centre not to “misuse” the central agencies namely CBI, ED and Income Tax against the leaders of regional and opposition parties.
They also alleged that the BJP leadership wanted to implicate Bihar Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in a fabricated case with an intention to topple the grand alliance government in bihar.
The grand alliance leaders also demanded withdrawal of general consent to the CBI, alleging that the agency was being ‘misused’ by the BJP-led government at the Centre for political vendetta.
As per Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, the CBI needs consent from the respective state governments for conducting investigations in their jurisdictions. Altogether nine states including Mizoram, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Jharkhand, Punjab and Meghalaya have withdrawn or not given general consent to the CBI to investigate cases in their jurisdiction.
The GA leaders asked the Bihar government to take necessary steps to withdraw the general consent to the CBI.
JDU State President Umesh Kushwaha said all political parties have now understood the game plan of the BJP. "We all will ensure the BJP’s defeat in the 2024 polls”, he said.
RJD MP Manoj Jha said Tejashwi had no connection with the Delhi based Mall which was raided by the CBI recently. He said even the company which owns the mall has clarified it. The CBI conducted raids at the premises of the rjd leaders mainly to damage the image of Tejashwi.
On August 24 when Nitish Kumar-led new government was seeking trust vote in the assembly, the CBI conducted raids on the premises of five RJD leaders including MLC Sunil Kumar Singh, Rajya Sabha MPs Asfaq Karim and Faiyyaz Ahmed, Ex-MLC Subodh Rai and former MLA Abu Dujana in Bihar in connection with the ‘land-for-job’ scam.
Other prominent leaders who addressed the joint press conference were RJD’s Alok Kumar Mehta, JDU’s Madan Sahni, Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathorre and CPI-ML leader K D Yadav.
The grand alliance in Bihar comprises seven parties -- JD(U), RJD, Congress, CPI-ML, CPI, CPM and HAM-S, which together have 163 MLAs in Bihar assembly that’s current strength is 241.