Minister hints at excise scam, Bihar CM says nothing to hide

In an embarrassment for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, already facing dissension in the party, excise minister Jamshed Ashraf has shot off letters to him hinting at a "multi-crore scam" in the department.In September 2009 and again on January 14, Ashraf handed over letters to the chief minister seeking his intervention in unearthing a "possible big scam".Alleging that the scam was committed in connivance with officers posted in the CM's secretariat and the excise department, Ashraf said it might have resulted in revenue loss to the tune of a whopping over Rs 500 crore.Ashraf suggested "a possible scam" related to awarding of contracts for manufacturing and distributing country liquor,sale of molasses to Uttar Pradesh and fixation of price forIndian made foreign liquor by the state Beverage Corporation.With the contents of the letter making way to the media, Kumar is apparently in a spot, as the opposition grabbed the opportunity to try to sully his image of a clean and no-nonsense man, especially an election year.Accusing the chief minister and his secretariat of trying to "cover up" the scam, opposition RJD-LJP combine demanded a CBI probe and immediate resignation of Kumar on moral grounds.Kumar said there was "nothing to hide" and people would know about the facts related to it soon. On cover-up charges, he said, "There is no one on the earth who can purchase me. My political career has remained clean and will remain clean." 

The development has come at a time when the ruling party is grappling with a defiant state JD(U) chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' who had quit the post raising the issue of internal democracy in the party.