Paswan wants Nitish Kumar to quit over fodder scam

Patna, Sep 8 (IANS) Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ramvilas Paswan Saturday demanded the resignation of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after a petition was filed in a Jharkhand court seeking to make Nitish Kumar an accused in the multi-crore Animal Husbandry Department scam.

“It is a clear case of corruption case against him. Nitish Kumar should resign on moral grounds,” Paswan, a former central minister, said here.

Paswan said that Nitish Kumar’s alleged involvement in the Animal Husbandry Department scam – also known as the fodder scam – was known years ago. “Why is he and his party silent over the petition,” Paswan asked.

The petition was filed Friday in Ranchi by Mukesh Kumar, who has claimed that there is enough evidence pointing to Nitish Kumar’s involvement in the scam.

“The petitioner says that there is enough evidence against Nitish Kumar and (Janata Dal-United (JD-U) Rajya Sabha MP Shivanand Tiwari in the fodder scam. The hearing will take place Sep 25,” the petitioner’s lawyer said Friday.

Mukesh Kumar had earlier filed a similar plea in the CBI court, which was rejected.

He then moved the Jharkhand High Court, which asked him to approach the CBI court.

Former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jaggnath Mishra are accused in five cases related to the scam and their trial is on in different CBI courts of Ranchi.

In the late 1990s, Bihar government officials and politicians were accused of illegally withdrawing crores of rupees of public money in the guise of purchasing cattle fodder.

Out of the 61 cases filed in the scam, 53 were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out of Bihar in 2000.

IANS 2012-09-08 21:45:15