Former chief minister of Bihar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi was on Tuesday charged with acquiring a benami property in Patna.

Leader of the Opposition Sushil Kumar Modi released a “registered document” and charged that Rabri had accepted a gift in the form of land worth Rs 30.8 lakh from Lallan Choudhary.

Choudhary, believed to be a resident of Siwan, said in the registered deed that since Rabri had helped him financially, the donor deemed it fit to donate the land to her on January 25, 2014.

“The donor is very close to the donee for a long time and the donee is also financially helping and rendering service to him for a long time and therefore, the donor disclosed his intense desire to gift this said property,” says the registered deed.

The BJP has smelt a rat in the reported transaction. Senior BJP leader Sushil Modi, who said the entire exercise appeared to have been done to convert Rabri’s black money into white, has posed five questions to her.

First, who is Lallan Choudhary who gave his 1,088-sq ft land in Patna worth Rs 30.8 lakh as a gift to Rabri Devi? Is Lallan her relative? Or is he a party MLA or MP?

Second, how come the land which Choudhary purchased in Patna in 2009 for Rs 3.97 lakh appreciated to Rs 30.8 lakh in 2014?

Third, from where did he get the money to pay Rs 3.97 lakh for the land? Was it through financial help from Rabri?
Fourth, why would someone sustain a loss of Rs 30.8 lakh by gifting land unless and until the gesture is reciprocated? How was Choudhary benefited?

Fifth, the identity of Choudhary should be made public. Or else, it will be construed that Rabri purchased the land for Rs 3.97 lakh through this proxy person and got it registered in her name through a gift.