Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav appeared at the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) office for interrogation regarding the purported Land for Job scam on Monday.
A vast crowd of RJD supporters gathered outside the office to demonstrate against the interrogation of their party's national leader.
An RJD member alleged that the federal government is targeting their leader to hinder their preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"These people do not have any other weapon. The government is harassing these people for the upcoming elections of 2024 so that they are not able to make strategies," she said.
The supporter added, "The more Lalu Yadav is being harassed, the stronger the workers are becoming. None of us is afraid."
Misa Bharti, the daughter of Yadav, accompanied her father as he is set to be questioned by federal agency officials.
"Everything is in front of the country and the people of the country are watching everything," Misa, surrounded by scores of RJD supporters, told reporters outside ED's office.
Manoj Kumar Jha, a member of the Rajya Sabha from the RJD, has alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using government agencies to politically target its opponents.
"This is not an ED summon, but a BJP summon... This will go on till 2024, till then please do not call it ED summons... Why should we be scared?" Jha said.
The BJP, now a part of the state government following Nitish Kumar's switch, alleging that the RJD is deeply entrenched in corruption.
"...The people of the country know that these (Lalu Yadav) are corrupt people. Corruption is a jewel for them... I want to urge Tejashwi Yadav to tell the youth of Bihar the system of how to become millionaires within one and a half years," Bihar BJP unit chief and now state Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chowdhary said.
The purported fraud took place during Lalu Yadav's tenure as Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009. In addition to the RJD national president, the chargesheet also implicates the former Railway General Manager.
Instead of getting them jobs in the Railways, Lalu Prasad Yadav reportedly had candidates and their family members transfer their land to his wife, Rabri Devi, and daughter, Misa Bharti, for a sale price much lower than the current circle and market rates.
The CBI submitted the chargesheet in October of the previous year, implicating the ex-Chief Ministers of Bihar Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, their daughter Misa Bharti, and 13 other individuals in the scandal involving the exchange of land for jobs.
The CBI reported that individuals were initially hired as replacements for Group D positions in the Railways, and later became permanent employees after their families engaged in a land transaction.
The CBI is currently investigating accusations of receiving land as a bribe in exchange for a job within the Railway sector.
Simultaneously, the ED is probing a money laundering case, while the CBI has also submitted a chargesheet for the same.
