Creating an embarrassing situation for the newly formed Nitish Kumar Government in Bihar, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son-in-law Shailesh Kumar was seen attending two official meetings that were held by Minister Tej Pratap Yadav. Tej Pratap Yadav who is also the son of Lalu Prasad Yadav was sworn in as Minister of Forest, Environment, and Climate Change in the Nitish Kumar-led Cabinet.
According to reports, on July 17, Kumar attended the first meeting that was held by Tej Pratap Yadav in his capacity as a Minister. Kumar was seen seated in the back row. However, a day later another meeting with the pollution control board was held in which Shailesh Kumar, husband of Misa Bharti was seen sitting next to Tej Pratap Yadav.
The incident came to light after the video of the meeting went viral over social media which showed the Yadav family’s interference in the official meetings. The incident however irked the BJP leaders who criticized the coalition government for allowing family members of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav to enter the government realm.
Bihar BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand shared the pictures of the meeting and tweeted, “Don’t take Bihar Forest and Environment Minister Tej Pratap Yadav lightly. Our brother Shailesh is also sitting with him. I am sure that Shailesh Ji is more clever and talented than all RJD Ministers. Tej Pratap Yadav will prove to be the best Minister if he has the blessings of Shailesh Ji”.
Also, Sushil Kumar Modi, a senior BJP leader who had served as the state’s Dy CM for over a decade commented on the issue. “Tej Pratap Yadav remains in news for all the wrong reasons. Now, as a minister he seems to have outsourced his duties to his brother-in-law”, he was quoted.
“Lalu Ji’s son-in-law was not just present at the meetings. The meetings, where he had no business to be present, were, being conducted (sanchaalit) by him”, he added. Modi meanwhile slammed CM Nitish Kumar and said that his government consisted of a large number of ministers with criminal records.
“His new government has a large number of ministers with criminal records which confirms fears of the return of jungle raj in the state. The incident involving Lalu Ji’s son-in-law is a clear sign that the RJD supremo will try to interfere in the workings of the new government”, he noted.
It is important to note that this is not the first when the family members of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav have interfered in the Bihar government activities. During the RJD’s 15-year reign, there was widespread knowledge that Rabri Devi’s brothers Sadhu and Subhash Yadav would hold the charge. It is questionable why Shailesh Kumar attended a meeting held by a Minister given that he holds no official role.
On August 16, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar expanded his new cabinet to induct 31 new ministers including 16 members from ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Later controversy erupted over the induction of a few ministers like RJD MLC Kartikeya Singh as Law Minister, Sudhakar Singh as Agriculture Minister, and Chandrashekhar Yadav as Education Minister.
According to the reports, RJD MLC Kartikeya Singh who was appointed as Law Minister was supposed to surrender at Danapur Court in a kidnapping case but instead, he reached Raj Bhavan in Patna for the oath-taking ceremony. Similarly, Sudhakar Singh who was allegedly involved in the rice scam was appointed as an Agriculture Minister.