RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Sunday blamed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the CBI raid at his residence in July, following which the Grand Alliance government in the state collapsed.
“The CBI raid at my Patna residence in July was at Nitish’s behest. The investigating agency’s bid to drag Tejashwi into the case and name him an accused was also a plan hatched by Nitish, who felt threatened by my son’s meteoric rise.
“No CBI personnel can raid a deputy chief minister’s house without the knowledge and permission of the chief minister. Hours before the raid, Nitish fled to Rajgir pretending he was down with fever, saying he needed the climate there to recuperate. I failed to understand this dubious plan by Nitish,” said Lalu.
The RJD chief was addressing a mammoth crowd at the ‘BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao’ rally organised at the historical Gandhi Maidan here on Sunday.
The rally was attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and rebel JD (U) MP Sharad Yadav.
Although Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi did not attend the rally, the party was represented by senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and C P Joshi.
Former Jharkhand chief ministers Hemant Soren and Babulal Marandi represented the JMM and JVM, respectively. CPI leader D Raja, Ajit Singh’s son Jayant Chowdhary from the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Tariq Anwar of the NCP were also present to express solidarity with Lalu.
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