Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary has kicked off a political row by stating that the state government would open a school in one of the seized properties belonging to RJD national president Lalu Prasad. Hitting back, the RJD said the state government should, instead, focus on running the already existing schools in a proper manner.
Choudhary, who is also Bihar’s Home Minister, made the remarks while speaking at a TV channel conclave on Friday.
Choudhary said: “We had already said this before elections and would repeat it that the government would seize property of Lalu Prasad and open a school in it soon. After all, Lalu Prasad is a registered convict.” He later told reporters that the government had been well within its rights to utilise the houses seized under provision of Bihar Special Courts Act, 2009.
Home department sources said Choudhary was referring to Lalu Prasad’s seized house at MLA Colony near Veterinary College, Patna. The state government has already been using a portion of the two-storey house as the office of the Sashashtra Seema Bal (SSB).
Former Bihar CM and Lalu Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi visited the house on Saturday. Rabri Devi stayed at the house for about 10-15 minutes and left without speaking to the media. A neighbour said: “The seized house is largely unused. Rabri Devi comes here at regular intervals.”
The house is in the vicinity of the homes of Rabri Devi’s brother and former MP Subhash Yadav and former RJD minister Munshi Lal Rai. Former MP Shakuni Choudhary, father of Samrat Choudhary, also owns a house in the area.
JD (U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told The Indian Express: “There have been new revelations on properties of Lalu Prasad. Besides possession of several land plots, known during land-for-job and IRCTC cases, we recently learnt about the family constructing a palatial house in Mahuabagh area of Patna. Yet, Lalu’s family wants to stick to government bungalow out of a sense of entitlement… As for the proposal of opening schools in the land seized from a corruption-case accused, it has been (the case) as per special law passed by the government.”
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RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said Choudhary was speaking the language of political vendetta. “Let the government first learn to run schools properly from its own buildings. Our leaders Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav have not been afraid of political vendetta,” he said.
Other seized properties of Lalu Prasad and his family in Patna include a flat near Beur jail and a land plot, proposed for constructing a mall, along Bailey Road near RPS Mod. These properties were seized in connection with land-for-jobs and fodder scam cases.
Ever since the Bihar government has implemented Bihar Special Courts Act, 2009, about one-and-a-half dozen seized buildings or houses of different individuals are being used by the state government for running schools or offices.
The law allows the government to seize the properties of public servants if they face corruption charges and if these assets are disproportionate to their known sources of income.
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It started with the house of former motor vehicle inspector Raghuvansh Kunwar in Chaira village of Samastipur where a primary school was opened in 2010. In 2011, the seized house of former IAS officer SS Verma at Rukunpura, Patna, was used to run a primary school. It still houses Mushahari Tola school. Later, the house of suspended treasury clerk Girish Kumar at Kadamkuan, Patna, was confiscated to run a residential high school. So far, the list does not include any house seized from a politician.
