Lalu concedes his family purchased land

RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday conceded that his family owned the land on which Patna’s biggest shopping mall was coming up, but said that there was no ‘scam’ as claimed by the BJP.

BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had said that when Lalu Prasad was Union railways minister, industrialist Harsh Kochar was given two railway hotels — one in Ranchi and the other in Puri (Odisha).

In return, a property in Patna, around two acres was transferred in February 2005 to Delight Marketing Private Limited, whose director was RJD MP Prem Chand Gupta, Lalu’s key aide.

Lalu’s children Tej Pratap, Tejaswi Yadav and Chanda Yadav were later made directors of the company. Later, in November 2016, the company was renamed as Lara Projects Private Limited (The ‘la’ and ‘ra’ from ‘Lalu’ and his wife ‘Rabri’ Devi).

“Every charge that Sushil Modi levels against me cannot be a scam. The land transfer has been done in a legal manner and all taxes are duly paid,” said Lalu, accompanied by Prem Chand Gupta.

Gupta, however, did not answer why his company transferred all the shares to Rabri Devi and her children.

“I am grateful to Lalu that he has conceded how he purchased land worth several hundred crores for merely a few lakhs. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should take cognisance of how Lalu and his family had been involved from Chara ghotala (fodder scam) to Lara ghotala (Lara Projects scam),” Modi said.

The BJP leader also demanded that “Nitish sack Lalu’s two sons — Tejaswi and Tej Pratap — immediately from the Cabinet, and that Lalu disclose all his benami properties. Or else, in the days to come, I will expose how Lalu has acquired huge properties in illegal manner.”