Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Sunday called RJD chief Lalu Prasad the "Natwarlal" of politics.
Natwarlal, whose name was Mithilesh Srivastava, was a conman from Bihar, who had duped several people using ingenious methods. Even his death is shrouded in mystery.
The BJP leader said Lalu, too, had devised innovative ways to amass property for his family. He used the sobriquet while making yet another revelation about a piece of land which is now "virtually" owned by Lalu's family and the control of which came to the family through circuitous route.
Modi said Lalu's family got the land in lieu of making a person the chairman of Bihar Public Service Commission and another a member of the Legislative Council.
The RJD retorted saying the charges were baseless.
Modi on Sunday shared the copies of the purported deeds, which showed that Lalu's wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi had become the virtual owners of two plots, measuring 6,726sqft, near Saguna Mor in west Patna.
He added that the property's market value is more than Rs 2 crore. He claimed that Rabri had showed the plots as her property in an affidavit submitted to the Election Commission of India.
According to the documents provided by the deputy chief minister, the two plots were sold by Seema Yadav and Sanjay Yadav, children of then chairman of Bihar Public Service Commission Ramashray Prasad Yadav, in 1993-94 to Mohammad Shamim and his wife Sofia Tabassum. Later, Shamim and Tabassum gave the power of attorney of the plots to Rabri in 2005.
"Lalu used a circuitous route to get control of the land. He first got the land registered in the name of Shamim and his wife in lieu of making Ramashray the chairman of the BPSC and then he made Shamim a member of the Legislative Council in 1998 through governor quota and finally got the power of attorney of the land in the name of Rabri in lieu of making Shamim an MLC," Modi alleged.
According to the purported copy of the power of attorney, Rabri was given the rights to look after the land, to execute, sign and present the documents before the registering authority anywhere, to appear in all courts, offices and to fill up the necessary forms, to file any suit related to the land and to let out the land to any tenant, to enter into rent agreements, lease deeds, receive and recover the rents.
"How would a former chief minister get time to take care of the property of someone?" asked Modi. He said Ramashray, who was the BPSC chairman from January 23, 1991, to January 22, 1997, was put under suspension on the last day of his tenure by the governor for misconduct.
He added that Shamim was used like a surrogate mother to get the land from Ramashray for giving him the post of the BPSC chairman and then Shamim was rewarded by being made an MLC.
On how would he establish his allegations given the fact that the power of attorney was given to Rabri seven years after Shamim was made an MLC, Modi said: "Lalu ji is not a fool when it comes to amassing property. He used the circuitous route to get the ownership of the land so that no one could level allegations of quid pro quo."
To this Lalu countered: "Modi should better speak on the Srijan scam which led to swindling of government funds."
The RJD chief claimed that the BJP leader was making false allegations against his family and he had all documents to back his innocence.
Modi claimed he intended to make one more revelation against Lalu before RJD's August 27 rally and said very soon he would submit the latest property-related documents to the Income Tax department.
Additional reporting by Amit Bhelari
