The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has alleged that the Centre, in its quest to settle scores with political opponents, has started targeting the daughters of Opposition leaders. The party was responding to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) chargesheet against five persons, including former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi and her daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, and two companies, in the alleged land-for-jobs money laundering case on Tuesday.
RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha said the ED’s decision to add the names of RJD leaders, including Rabri Devi and Misa Bharti, in the charge-sheet was politically motivated. He added that the Centre was not leaving even the daughters of Opposition politicians in its vindictive politics. Mr. Jha said the case was fictitious and both the Indian Railways and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had found no substance in the allegations. He said First Information Reports (FIR) were filed in 2008 at several places, and the CBI subsequently filed closure reports in these FIRs as they couldn’t find anything substantial in the charges. “Under the direction of two people in power, the case was reopened in 2021 and further steps were taken after the regime change in Bihar,” Mr. Jha said.
Mr. Jha said the names of none of the officers or authorities in the Railways were mentioned in the charge-sheet, but names of mothers and daughters had found place there. “This is vendetta politics. Such a step is taken just to abuse them,” he said.
He said such steps showed the desperation of the ruling BJP. “BJP is fast losing its ground. They are unable to take on its opponents politically,” Mr. Jha said. “They are trying to scare people who are not compromised by sending summons after summons.”
