RJD in a fix as Bihar election looms; party chief Lalu Yadav, son Tejasvi charged in IRCTC hotel scam
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has found itself in a fix just ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, which are inching closer. Party founder and president Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi, and son Tejasvi Yadav have all been charged with criminal cases in the alleged IRCTC scam case.
The court order came just before the elections next month.
The politician and his family have pleaded not guilty and said that they would face the trial.
The Delhi Rouse Avenue court framed charges of corruption, criminal conspiracy, and cheating against Lalu Yadav and his family, a report from Bar and Bench said.
The setback and its timing may affect the opposition Mahagathbandhan, or the Grand Alliance, in the upcoming Bihar polls. The opposition alliance was to announce its seat-sharing plan this week and also expected to release a joint manifesto.
The top leadership from both the RJD and Congress were to meet on Monday. On Sunday, Lalu Prasad Yadav had said that the talks were on. Tejasvi Yadav, however, did not share any details. The two were in Delhi for the court hearing.
The charges and the case give points to the JDU-BJP and the NDA alliance in the upcoming elections. If the voter base of the Mahagathbandhan does not switch sides, they could shift within the alliance.
Reports had said that Congress was likely to get a smaller number of seats than in the last elections due to their performance; They had only managed to secure 19 out of the 70 seats it contested in 2020. Meanwhile, the RJD contested and bagged 75 out of the 144 seats it contested in the last elections.
The 2025 Bihar assembly polls will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, and counting will take place on November 14.
The IRCTC land scam case
The allegations against the family date back from 2004 to 2009. During Yadav’s tenure as railway minister, two IRCTC hotels in Rancihi and Puri were given to a company named Sujata Hotels through a manipulated tender process. The family then received land worth crores in return through a company linked to Lalu Yadav’s wife and son at a fraction of the market value. The allegation was that the then railway minister and his family accepted prime land as a bribe from the private firm.
The FIRs were filed against them in 2017. A total of 14 people were named in the case. Lalu Yadav has been charged with criminal misconduct as a public official and conspiracy to defraud in the IRCTC scan case.
The court had reserved its decision on the case on May 29, and on September 24, Special Judge Vishal Gogane had directed the family to appear before the court.
On the case Tejasvi Yadav and the rest of the family have maintained that the allegations were from a political vendetta. He said "We have been saying this from the beginning that since the elections are coming, all this will happen. We respect the verdict of the court. We will fight the case. The people of Bihar are smart, and they know what is happening. All this is a political vendetta." "I will keep fighting with the BJP as long as I am alive," he added.
India