EXCLUSIVE: Nitish, his cronies masters in fudging COVID-19 numbers; they swindled crores: Tejashwi Yadav

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat Patna Bureau Chief Amit Bhelari, spoke about various issues plaguing Bihar and also on national issues. The Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly also took a jibe at CM Nitish Kumar.

Patna (Bihar): Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav lashed out at the Janata Dal (United)-led Bihar government over its alleged mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis. In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Tejashwi launched a scathing attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar alleging that the "Bheeshma Pitamaha" and his officials siphoned off crores of rupees that were earmarked for managing the pandemic situation in the state.

"Be it tests, numbers, RT-PCR tests or vaccines, there have been scams everywhere. Bihar lost so many doctors to the pandemic. The Bihar government is a bogus government. Numbers are being concealed and data manipulated. Nitish's officers are experts in manipulating numbers. The money they have swindled during this pandemic is beyond one's imagination," Tejashwi said, adding that no less than two lakh people died in the state but the documents pegged the number to a few thousands. "Though graveyards ran out of spaces and corpses were seen flowing in the Ganga, there are no records in official documents. This governance has been at its worst," Tejashwi said.

On the eve of the RJD's 25th Foundation Day, Tejashwi said he could sense that the Bihar government is tumbling and that it is "useless". "Nitish is not concerned about Bihar. He is working only towards securing the remaining part of his life. Although I give my best wishes for his retirement, he should think about Bihar given that it is a young state. Today, the people are burdened by inflation. The price of petrol has exceeded Rs 100 per litre. Farmers are upset and middlemen are having a gala time. Incidents of murder, robbery and rape have increased," Tejashwi said, alleging that the Nitish Kumar government made a backdoor entry into power.

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He also accused Nitish of safeguarding those who indulged in corruption. "Several of Nitish's ministers and MLAs are facing corruption charges. Despite 70 scams having taken place during Nitish's rule, there hasn't been an investigation to date. Are ghosts resorting to scams during their regime," Tejashwi questioned.

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On the RJD gearing up for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections, Tejashwi said his party would decide on the nitty-gritty. However, he said only the Samajwadi Party could defeat the BJP there. "Regarding the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2024, a strategy should be decided in advance. Only the Congress can challenge the BJP in Lok Sabha elections. There are 200 such Lok Sabha seats across the country where there is a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. However, it is also true that wherever the regional party is strong, the command should be given to the regional party. From now on, all the parties should sit together and discuss these issues face to face," Tejashwi said.

On being questioned about the state of bureaucracy in Bihar, Tejashwi said nothing worked in the Nitish Raj without a bribe. "During my father Lalu Yadav's regime, any person from the village used to get his work done right in front of the DM," he said.

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Expressing support to Chirag Paswan, Tejashwi said, "We have full sympathy with Chirag and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) belongs to him. Now Chirag has to decide whether he wants to remain with those who would like to destroy the Constitution or with the people who believe in the principles laid down by BR Ambedkar."

In last year's Assembly elections in the state, the BJP-led NDA had secured 74 seats while the JDU was restricted to 43 seats. However, with the Hindustani Awami Morcha and the Vikassheel Insaan Party adding four seats each, the BJP-JD(U) dominated alliance was able to achieve the magic figure of 125. The RJD under Tejashwi's leadership had emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats while the Grand Alliance had managed 110 seats.