BJP leaders in Bihar are 'more corrupt' than Lalu: Prashant Kishor

Patna: Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Friday flagged "serious irregularities" in Health department of Bihar, a portfolio held by the BJP all through the NDA rule, and alleged that the leaders of the saffron party in the state are "more corrupt" than RJD president Lalu Prasad.

Addressing a press conference, Kishor launched a frontal attack on state Health minister Mangal Pandey, who is also a former Bihar BJP President, accusing him of "quid pro quo" with current state unit chief Dilip Jaiswal, whom the Jan Suraaj Party founder has been targeting for some time.

Kishor alleged that the state Health department had placed an order for '1,200 ambulances' priced at around Rs 28 lakh each, which was almost twice as what states like Odisha and Uttar Pradesh were paying. He also alleged that in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pandey had purchased a flat in Delhi in his wife's name and Jailswal helped him in the transaction.

"Pandey showed his gratitude by granting the status of deemed university to a medical college in Kishanganj in which Jaiswal has huge stakes", alleged Kishore. "Jaiswal transferred Rs 25 lakh to the account of Pandey's father on August 6, 2019 and that money was used in the purchase of a flat in the name of the then health minister's wife. Jaiswal even signed as a witness in the document of the flat purchased in Delhi's Dwarka", Pandey said.

Even if Pandey borrowed this amount from Jaiswal, then why did he not mention it in his election affidavit in the 2020 assembly polls in the category of unsecured loan, Kishor asked.

"BJP leaders in Bihar claim to be unblemished but in reality they are more corrupt than even RJD President Lalu Prasad, whom they like to attack over conviction in fodder scam cases and alleged involvement in railway scams like land for hotels and land for jobs", said Kishor. Pandey and Jaiswal need to explain this transaction, he added.

Despite repeated attempts, neither Pandey nor Jaiswal were available for their comments over the charges levelled by Kishor against them.

The Jan Suraaj party founder also raked up a recent Rajasthan court order in which another BJP leader and Bihar minister Jibesh Mishra was held guilty of involvement in manufacture of spurious medicine.

"The BJP leader continues in the Nitish Kumar cabinet despite the opposition's demand that he be sacked or asked to resign in the wake up of the court order", he said. Notably, Mishra is one of the directors of the drug company, which has been indicted by the court in Rajsamand (Rajasthan). The court has not awarded a prison sentence to the Bihar minister but ruled that he be under probation for a certain period.

Kishore also deplored the police action against students in Patna a day ago and claimed that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may be "unwell, physically and mentally". "I have had personal relations with him, yet a CM who lets boys be kicked by police personnel bearing heavy boots deserves no sympathy", he said while referring to a recent incident in which a boy was allegedly kicked by police personnel.

Kishor also demanded action against those involved in the assault on a Bihari labourer in the BJP-ruled Haryana.

"The labourer was mercilessly beaten by his employer in Haryana. His hands were amputated, and he is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Ambala. Why have the accused not been arrested by the Haryana police so far?" asked Kishor.