Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday demanded the removal of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tej Pratap Yadav as Bihar’s environment and forest minister amid corruption allegations. Modi urged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to conduct a high-level inquiry into allegations that the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader was awarded a contract worth Rs 90 lakh to MS Enterprise without following the tender process.
The BJP veteran said that Yadav’s department gave the contract for the construction of a pathway and other work at Patna’s Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park.
“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should order a high level probe into the ‘soil purchase scam’ in which Environment and Forest Minister Tej Pratap Yadav is involved. [The] CM should sack Yadav from his Cabinet without making any delay,” said Modi, according to PTI.
Besides, Modi alleged that Yadav coerced the zoo officials to buy soil worth Rs 44 lakh from his brother’s plot, where a mall is under construction. Apart from Yadav’s sibling, the minister and his mother are also shareholders of the plot, reported The Indian Express. “There was complete nexus and at the behest of Tej Pratap Yadav, this soil was purchased,” he added.
However, zoo’s officials told NDTV that they did not buy the soil from the developer who’s building the mall. But, they admitted purchasing soil worth Rs 44 lakh over the last three months without floating a tender.
Yadav, who has denied any wrongdoing, said Modi was trying to tarnish his reputation. “I will file a defamation case against Sushil Modi,” he tweeted. Lalu Prasad Yadav has also refuted the allegations and said that his son is ready to face investigations. “The allegation is far from truth. Get it inquired by anybody,” said the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief.
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