LJP govt will send Nitish Kumar to jail if found guilty of corruption, says Chirag Paswan

Patna: Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan on Monday alleged corruption in Nitish Kumar’s flagship ‘Saat Nishchay’ (seven resolves) scheme and said if voted to power he will get it probed and send to jail those found guilty, including the chief minister. The LJP chief also raised an accusing finger at Kumar in the implementation of prohibition laws in the state and accused the CM of gaining from smuggling of liquor into the state. “Why not, if found guilty. Just because he is chief minister he won’t go to jail? Corruption is taking place right under his nose, Chirag told PTI-Bhasha over phone from Arwal when asked if he indeed intends to send Kumar to jail on charge of corruption in the implementation of seven resolves. “Saat Nishchay is a scheme formulated by him. We will get it probed after an LJP government is formed. And if found guilty, the chief minister will also go to jail,” he said. Earlier, talking to reporters at Patna airport before flying for his election rallies, Chirag said “12 crore Biharis, including ministers in his Cabinet and media persons, know about widespread corruption in the implementation of seven resolves”. Continuing with his tirade against Kumar, the LJP president alleged illegal trade in liquor is rampant in the state due to patronage of the bigwigs in Nitish Kumar’s government. “Why doesn’t he gets this inquired too?” Chirag asked. While talking to PTI-Bhasha from Arwal, he made serious charges against Kumar, saying, “he is promoting smuggling of liquor during prohibition and a fat sum of money from this illegal trade is going in his pocket for furthering his political ambition.” Kumar’s government has declared Bihar a dry state since April 2016. Chirag, who is campaigning for his party alone in the absence of his father late Ram Vilas Paswan, has been attacking Kumar on a daily basis in his election rallies as well as on social media. Addressing a poll rally in Nokha in Rohtas district, he alleged the chief minister “lied” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he has been able to build drainage and streets and provide piped water to everybody in the state. “The chief minister says there is no corruption in Bihar, whereas the corruption in Saat Nishchay is the biggest in the history of Bihar,” Paswan alleged. “Therefore, we have mentioned in our “Bihar First, Bihari First” vision document that when voted to power we will identify those involved in corruption in Saat Nishchay and send them to jail, whether a small officer or the chief minister himself,” he said at his Nokha rally. Nitish Kumar had announced the Rs 2.70 lakh-crore ‘Saat Nischay’ scheme for Bihar’s development during the 2015 Assembly election campaign. The scheme aims at making the younger generation self- reliant through education, skill development and education loan, besides providing electricity connection to all villages, piped water to every household, and road and drainage in urban areas. The Bihar Cabinet had in February 2016 given its nod to implement the scheme over five years. Until recently, the LJP was part of the NDA in Bihar whose primary constituents are the JD(U) and the BJP. After walking out of the NDA in the state, the LJP chief has been asserting that he would ensure that Kumar don’t return to power in the state. While the chief minister himself is refraining from reacting to allegations of Chirag, his partymen, and the NDA ally HAM hit back at the LJP chief. Bihar JD(U) president Basistha Narayan Singh has alleged that there was a “nexus between Chirag and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and both are making baseless charges against Kumar to gain publicity and also for their political survival.” Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi—headed Hindustani Awam Morcha, an associate partner of the JD(U) in the NDA, made a scathing attack on Chirag. “You (Chirag) are a ‘videshi chiriyan’ (foreign bird) who is seeing in Bihar only during the election. Before claiming yourself as ‘yuva Bihari’ you should know about Bihar,” HAM general secretary Danish Rizwan said in a tweet and asked the LJP president to correctly spell name of the place Dumraon in Hindi.