‘Dekhte rahiye kya hota hai’: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar amid Tejashwi Yadav’s arrest rumours in ‘land for jobs’ scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conducted multiple raids on the premises of several RJD leaders in relation to a years-old scam, putting heat on Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and the new JD(U)-RJD alliance.

Now, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has reacted to the CBI raids against RJD, urging the people to “just keep watching” as the events of the case unfold. This comes just as many are speculating about the arrest of Tejashwi Yadav in the ‘land for jobs’ scam being probed by the CBI.

"Ye sab dekhte na rahiye aap log, kya hota hai (just keep watching as things unfold)", was the CM's reply when journalists asked him about the raids that took place on Wednesday, hours before his government faced a trust vote.

Raids were conducted at many places in Bihar and Delhi-NCR in connection with the alleged land-for-jobs scam, pertaining to the period when RJD president Lalu Prasad was the minister for railways.

Prasad's son Tejashwi Yadav, who is now the Deputy CM, had denied that his family had stakes in an under-construction shopping mall in Gurugram that was among the more than a dozen premises raided by CBI sleuths.

Meanwhile, News18 has reported that the CBI has found “very strong evidence” against Yadav, who might face arrest soon in the 14-year-old scam, which dates back to when RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Railways Minister in the UPA-I government.

The sources were further quoted as revealing that the agency recovered a hard disk during its searches which has a list of 1,458 candidates who allegedly gave their land to the Yadavs in return for jobs. The list was reportedly prepared by Tejashwi. 

The investigations into the land for jobs scam took deeper dive just weeks after Nitish Kumar formed a new government with RJD, breaking off its alliance with the Bhartiya Janta Party in Bihar. All BJP MLAs were made to step down from their posts, with new cabinet ministers from JDU and RJD taking their place.

(With PTI inputs)

READ | Land for jobs case: Tejashwi Yadav may face arrest in 14-year-old scam, CBI finds 'very strong' evidence in hard disk