The opposition RJD on Saturday claimed that the income tax raids on certain contractors due to the alleged scam in the tap water supply project were meant to corner Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
A team of Income Tax Department raided the houses of six contractors on Friday evening and seized Rs 2.28 crore from the houses of two of them who are connected to the Nal-Jal Yojana.
RJD spokesman Chitranjan Gagan said: “It is a well-planned game of the BJP to put Nitish Kumar on the back foot. Who can better understand the BJP’s ‘Chal, Charitra and Chehra’ than Nitish Kumar?”
Another RJD leader Mritunjay Tiwari said: “People need to understand why Chirag Paswan has gone on the offensive against Nitish Kumar, particularly on the ‘Saat Nischay’ Yojana. He is being used through the remote control by the BJP to corner Nitish Kumar. Chirag Paswan has already said that Nitish Kumar would go to jail if corruption is found in any state government project.”
The tap water supply scheme is an ambitious project of the Nitish Kumar government to ensure piped water to every household in the state. It is part of the CM’s ‘Saat Nischay’ Yojana.
Lok Janshakti Party President Chirag Paswan had earlier alleged a scam in ‘Saat Nischay’ Yojana. He is pointing this out in every political rally he attends in Bihar to corner Nitish Kumar.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav too has raised questions over the ‘Saat Nischay’ Yojana and asked the Chief Minister to tell about the expenditure estimates before the public.
“I will initiate an inquiry once our government is formed in Bihar,” Tejashwi said.
Meanwhile, the ruling Janata Dal-United claimed that it was not a case of corruption but tax theft and cannot be attributed to compromise on the quality in the project.
“I welcome the Income Tax raids. It shows the transparency of the state government. No violation of norms will be tolerated. The Nitish government has worked on zero tolerance basis for the last 15 years and it has been proven again,” JD-U spokesman Rajiv Ranjan said.
–IANS
