The Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate have taken action against RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s wife, son, daughter and son-in-law in several benami property transactions, and the process for legal action under Prevention of Money Laundering Act has begun. Under present circumstances, the ruling Janata Dal(United)-RJD combine is facing tremendous political pressure. Voices are being raised for Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav, who is Deputy Chief Minister, to resign, but he is adamant on not doing so. The Congress is part of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) that won the Bihar polls. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is worried that the united opposition challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre may fizzle out if the grand alliance in Bihar breaks. That is why, she has asked her party leaders to salvage the alliance. Lalu Prasad is now in a fix. He cannot antagonise both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Sonia Gandhi simultaneously. The jury is still out on how and when Tejashwi Yadav will quit because an FIR has been filed against him.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha has come out with a remark backing Lalu Prasad. In his comment, the film star has said mere filing of FIR does not mean, a minister should quit. He said there are several ministers in different parties who have not resigned despite cases against them. Sinha has expressed the hope that the RJD-JD(U) rift will soon be over and Bihar will not be pushed into early elections. Shatrughan Sinha is a nice gentleman and he is my personal friend. But it seems, in politics, he is yet to acquire the required level of sagacity. He often plays the wrong dice. When he was sulking in BJP, he indicated that he was with Nitish Kumar, but now when he finds that Nitish may again join hands with BJP, he has thrown in his lot with Lalu Prasad. Somebody should remind Sinha that he once used to praise his political guru L.K.Advani for resigning after the latter’s name came out in the Hawala diary case. The same person (Sinha) is now saying that mere levelling of charges does not mean that somebody should resign.
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