‘Fark nahin padta’: His family summoned for ED questioning, Tejashwi says ‘BJP teams solely focused on Bihar’

Commenting on the fresh summons by the ED, Lalu’s younger son and Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav said people might have “lost count” of how many times he, his father, or his mother have been summoned by the ED, CBI, or Income Tax officials. “Does anyone even remember?” he asked.

“Koi aaye koi jaye… Hum log ko fark padne wala thodi hai (whoever comes or goes… it doesn’t affect us in any way). There is a legal system, and we are people who follow that system. If summoned, we go,” Tejashwi said.

“If I was not in politics, would there be a single case against me? There wouldn’t be any case. It’s because we are in politics that cases are being filed as part of political vendetta and conspiracies,” he said.

Alleging BJP of “misusing constitutional agencies”, the RJD MLA said, “After the Delhi elections, all the BJP teams, from A to Z, or their IT cell, are now solely focused on Bihar… These people are scared, they remain anxious… They have fear and panic – whatever it may be about. But no matter what they do… how much they try to trouble us according to their plans, it will only make us stronger. And with that strength, we will form a government in Bihar with even greater determination.”

JD(U) minister Ashok Choudhary called the summons “a process” and said, “Whenever there is a case, someone is called for questioning. Whether it’s at a police station, EOU, CBI, or ED, one has two options – either seek relief from the court by presenting evidence and hiring a lawyer or face the investigation. They are facing the investigation because the court may not have granted them relief.”

On both days the RJD leaders were summoned, their supporters staged protests outside the ED office.

The land for jobs scam case dates back to Lalu Prasad’s tenure as the Central Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009 and revolves around accusations that he and his family received land parcels at below-market rates in exchange for offering Group D railway jobs to individuals without public advertisements.

The ED has alleged that shell companies were set up to acquire these land parcels and conceal the proceeds of crime.