CBI at Rabri Devi home because of family’s strong opposition to BJP: Tejashwi

Patna: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Monday claimed that the CBI team’s visit to the residence of his mother and ex-CM Rabri Devi was a result of his family's “relentless opposition to the ruling BJP at the Centre”.

He also asserted that his father Lalu Prasad, who has been named in the land for jobs case, had "no powers" to provide employment in exchange of favours as the then railway minister.

Earlier in the day, a CBI team visited the Rabri Devi's residence here in connection with a "further probe" in the land for jobs scam case, officials said.

There is no search or raid taking place, they said.

"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. Examples of Ajit Pawar in Maharashtra and Mukul Roy in West Bengal are proof,” the RJD leader told reporters outside the Bihar assembly.

He, however, declined to comment on questions about the "timing" of the latest CBI action, which comes close on the heels of a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, protesting the arrest of Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, to which Yadav was also a signatory.

The CBI had recently arrested Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped liquor policy for 2021-22 in Delhi.

Nonetheless, the RJD leader pointed out that raids were carried out on the premises of some of his party leaders on the very day the "Mahagathbandhan" government in Bihar proved its majority on the floor of the assembly.

Notably, Yadav stays at his mother's 10, Circular Road house here, which is a stone's throw from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s official residence and the Raj Bhavan.

Meanwhile, several RJD supporters swarmed the bungalow allotted to Rabri Devi, raising slogans against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and vowing to "wipe out" the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls next year.

The CBI had already filed its charge sheet in the land for jobs scam case and the special court has summoned the accused, including former railway minister Lalu Prasad and his family members and others on March 15, they said.

The agency has kept the further probe open into the alleged scam, they said.

The visit of the CBI team is in connection with further investigation in the case, they said.