The BJP on Friday alleged that the ongoing efforts to cobble up an opposition grand alliance are essentially aimed at covering up various corruption scandals of prominent opposition leaders.
The ruling party fielded Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to specifically mention the latest allegations against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family and the court ordered inquiry against Congress President Sonia Gandhi to point out that the anti-BJP alignment is not to serve public good but is a mere cover-up operation.
Speaking from the party headquarters, Prasad said the BJP would like the Central Government to probe one tainted land deal involving Lalu Prasad Yadav and his daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti. He also asked the Election Commission to take action against Misa Bharti for not disclosing her property details in her election affidavit. He said Lalu, his daughter and his two sons, both Bihar government ministers, are involved in corrupt land deals worth over ₹1,000 crore which are a case of “quid pro quo” as they date back to the period when Lalu was the Railway Minister.
The Law Minister’s statement comes at a time when there are efforts, especially on the part of socialists of all hues led by Sharad Yadav of Janata Dal (United) with the Left headed by CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, to treat the upcoming Presidential election as a dry run to forge a Grand Alliance of the opposition in the 2019 elections.
The Law Minister asked the chief protagonists of the Grand Alliance show — Yechury and Sharad Yadav — to explain whether the Alliance will serve the people or individual leaders involved in corruption scandals.
“What sort of Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) is this? Is it an Alliance to protect the corrupt, to give a cover to the rank corruption of its constituents? The BJP would like to ask the likes of Sharad Yadav and Sitaram Yechury what they have to say about the corruption scandals that are being unearthed almost on an every day basis. I would have asked this of Sonia Gandhi as well. But now courts have ordered an inquiry against the Congress President in the National Herald case as well,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Faith in Modi According to Prasad, it has now dawned on the opposition that the BJP is winning successive elections and people’s faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi is increasing because of the enhanced ethical quotient in governance and decision-making.