CBI quizzes Rabri; RJD and BJP trade charges

Patna: A CBI team on Monday questioned former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi at her residence here in connection with a case lodged by the agency pertaining to the period when her husband Lalu Prasad was the Railway Minister.

The CBI contingent came in four cars and reached 10, Circular Road, a stone's throw from the official residence of the Chief Minister and the Raj Bhavan at around 10.30 AM and spent five hours inside.

CBI headquarters in Delhi maintained that no "search" or "raid" was conducted at the house, in connection with the land for jobs scam for which it has recently received the Centre's sanction to prosecute Prasad, the RJD president, his wife and some other close members of the family. Notably, unlike in the past when the house remained sealed whenever a raid was conducted, visitors were allowed during the period. Nonetheless, the word "chhapa" and "chhapemari" rent the air and a number of angry supporters reached the high-security locality to register their protest, some of them taking off their clothes in a fit of rage and vowing to "wipe out" (safaaay) the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls next year. Her elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, a maverick minister who stays a few hundred metres away, rushed to his mother's place riding a bicycle. Rabri Devi herself looked unruffled when she emerged from the house after the CBI sleuths left, as she smilingly nodded at the bystanders while her car sped towards the Vidhan Parishad.

BJP leaders in the state, however, rubbished allegations of political vendetta. Party leaders like Nitin Nabin and Jibesh Kumar Mishra, both former ministers, claimed Prasad and his family were "reaping what they have sown"

The team might also seek some additional documents from the family of Lalu Prasad related to the case of alleged land transfer to them in exchange for appointments in Group D posts in railways during 2004-2009. Prasad's son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav alleged that CBI's action was a result of his family's "relentless opposition" to the BJP. "It is an open secret that probe agencies are acting against political opponents of the BJP and helping those who agree to align with that party," the RJD leader told reporters outside the Bihar Assembly. He also claimed that his father had "no powers" to provide employment in exchange for favours as the then railway minister. Other parties like the Congress and AAP too attacked the central government over the CBI action and alleged that the BJP wants to "suppress" the voice of the Opposition. "Today Rabri Devi ji is being harassed. Lalu Prasad ji and his family have been harassed for years because they did not bow down," Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted.

Conducting raids against opposition leaders and harassing them is not right, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday, asserting that the country will only progress when everyone works together