Nitish Kumar

Patna, April 13: Notwithstanding the praise heaped on chief minister Nitish Kumar by the likes of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam and social activist Anna Hazare, political rhetoric in Bihar over corruption is getting more fierce and evoking bitter memories of the most infamous scam unearthed in the state — the fodder scam.

RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav in a statement alleged that Nitish Kumar had taken Rs 1 crore from the prime accused of the fodder scam in the 1990s — animal husbandry department official and kingpin of the scam — Shyam Bihari Sinha.

His statement has sparked outrage in the JD (U). “Ram Kripal comes from a party whose chief (Lalu Prasad) has been in the jail nine times in connection with the fodder scam. He (the RJD MP) has no moral right to talk about corruption, let alone the fodder scam. The Opposition is in the habit of repeating a lie again and again when they find nothing against Nitish Kumar,” said JD (U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh. He stressed that such wild charges were an indication of the Opposition’s frustration. Incidentally, the former chief of the Bihar Congress, Anil Kumar Sharma, had made similar charges just before the last Lok Sabha polls.

Shyam Bihari Sinha, who died in judicial custody, was reported to have close links with a lot of politicians. It was no wonder that quite a few politicians — Lalu Prasad, Jagannath Mishra (both former CMs), Jagdish Sharma (now JD (U) MP from Jehanabad) and several others — were made accused in the case. However, during the investigation, though it was acknowledged that the fodder money was given to most political parties, the name of the present chief minister never cropped up.

“The political impact of the fodder scam is over. The scam broke out in 1996. The RJD won the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in 1994. Nitish Kumar won and lost a Lok Sabha poll and has been winning since 2005. The scam is now on trial stage. Its reference no longer evokes political vibration in the state,” said a retired politician, pointing out that the fodder scam accused are no longer political untouchables and all parties have welcomed them with open arms.

After the praise of Anna Hazare for Nitish Kumar’s steps to fight corruption, the chief minister recalled the public applause he used to get in his over 300 public meetings during the Assembly campaign when he talked about taking action against corrupt officials.

During his second stint, Nitish has made his ministers and officials declare their assets publicly. He has got the Right to Services Act passed in the legislative bodies. The Opposition has dubbed these steps as eyewash and insisted that corruption has become even more rampant at the grassroots during his regime. “But the fact remains that Nitish Kumar’s words against corruption is more credible before the masses than his political opponents Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan and the Congress,” said a senior RJD leader.”