Tejashwi Yadav responds to PM Modi's barbs about father Lalu Prasad at Patna rally
Patna, March 03: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took to the stage on Sunday to highlight his father Lalu Prasad's accomplishments as the railway minister, a day after corruption allegations were leveled against him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Yadav delivered his response to the prime minister at a massive rally in the Bihar capital, where prominent opposition figures such as Rahul Gandhi, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury also addressed the crowd.
Referring to Modi's speeches at back-to-back rallies in Aurangabad and Begusarai districts, Yadav said, "Modi ji had indirectly taunted me yesterday, saying I was wary of speaking about my father's deeds. I am responding to him. May he take note with eyes and ears open as I speak in front of the massive crowd (Jan sailab) out here".
He added, "My father had turned the railways around in the UPA government. Earlier, it was making losses but under his stewardship, it made a profit of Rs 90,000 crore. He also gave permanent jobs to coolies and introduced kulhads (earthen pots) in catering services for the benefit of our potter brethren".
"Above all, Lalu ji (as Bihar Chief Minister in the 1990s) made social justice a reality in Bihar where nobody can now dare deny the depressed classes their right to draw water from wells or force them to take off their shoes", said the RJD leader.
Yadav added, "I would like to ask the prime minister, what has been his contribution in the 10 years of his rule. He seems to be handing over railways to the private sector. Whom does he want to benefit? The people or capitalists?".
Incidentally, Yadav's name also figures in the land for jobs scam, though the alleged irregularities took place at a time when he was a minor.
Others named in the case include his mother Rabri Devi, a former chief minister herself, and elder sister Misa Bharti, who is a second term member of the Rajya Sabha.
The young RJD leader also took exception to the PM targeting his family over "parivarvad (dynastic rule)" and claimed Modi was oblivious to dynasts enjoying positions of power in NDA governments.
Yadav cited the examples of Samrat Choudhary, Bihar BJP president and Deputy CM, whose father had been a well known politician of his times; Santosh Suman, a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet whose father Jitan Ram Manjhi is an ex-CM; and Pashupati Kumar Paras, who got inducted into the Narendra Modi ministry following death of elder brother Ram Vilas Paswan.
He also called Choudhary a "loudmouth" and pointed out that the BJP leader "has not faced an election in the last 10 years. When he last became a member of the assembly, it was on an RJD ticket".
The RJD leader added, "Modi boasts about his guarantees. I challenge him to give a guarantee that uncle (chacha) Nitish Kumar will not do yet another volte face".
Kumar, who heads the JD(U), recently snapped ties with the RJD and returned to BJP-led NDA.
Calling the BJP a party of "liars", Yadav alleged, "they serve you cow dung (gobar) on the plates, but tell you it is gaajar ka halwa".
Yadav, whose party is often accused of being biased towards his caste, said, "I want to make an appeal to all of you who have come to hear me. If you love Tejashwi, please treat Dalits and those from the extremely backward classes with respect".
The young leader said the initials by which Rashtriya Janata Dal was known also stood for "rights, jobs and development".
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RAW official plotted to kill Sikh separatist in US, alleges US Department of Justice
Washington (PTI): An Indian RAW official was involved in a plot to kill a separatist Sikh American national last summer in and around the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, federal prosecutors alleged on Thursday in a damaging indictment filed in a US court in New York.
The official identified as Vikas Yadav, 39, was employed by the Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India's foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the federal prosecutors claimed.
Yadav, who is believed to be no longer a government employee, has been charged with three counts, including murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
He “remains at large”, the Department of Justice said.
His co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta was arrested in Czechoslovakia last year and is languishing in a US jail after extradition.
“Today’s charges demonstrate that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to target and endanger Americans and to undermine the rights to which every US citizen is entitled,” US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said.
“The defendant, an Indian government employee, allegedly conspired with a criminal associate and attempted to assassinate a US citizen on American soil for exercising their First Amendment rights,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The Indian government has denied its association or involvement with such a plot to kill an American national on US soil. Following allegations by the US, New Delhi had set up an inquiry committee to investigate the matter. The US has expressed satisfaction on cooperation from India on this.
Unsealing of the second indictment comes within 48 hours of an Indian Enquiry Committee visiting here to have a meeting with an inter-agency team of officials from the FBI, Department of Justice and the State Department on these issues.
“We are satisfied with the cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation, and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday.
“The meeting that occurred yesterday – we updated – we being the US government broadly – updated members of the Committee of Inquiry about the investigation that the United States has been conducting. We’ve received an update from them on the investigation that they have been conducting. It was a productive meeting, and I will leave it at that,” Miller said.
“They did inform us that the individual, who was named in the Justice Department indictment, is no longer an employee of the Indian government,” he added.
Running into 18 pages, the indictment that was unsealed Thursday posts a pictures of Yadav in a military dress and also gives a picture of two persons exchanging dollars in a car in New York, which federal prosecutors said were the money being paid to the alleged killer by a person on behalf of Gupta and Yadav to assassinate the Sikh Separatist leader in New York. The picture is dated June 9, 20203 The name of the Sikh separatist, a US citizen, is not mentioned in the indictment.
“By indicting RAW Official Vikash Yadav in “Murder For Hire” Plot, US Government has reassured its commitment to fundamental constitutional duty to protect the life, liberty and freedom of expression of the US Citizen at home and abroad,” Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel to separatist Sikh for Justice, said in a statement after the indictment was released by the Department of Justice.
The damaging indictment alleges that Yadav along with his co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta plotted to kill the Sikh separatist leader in the summer of 2023. For this Gupta hired an individual to do the kill job. The unidentified individual, who was an informant to the FBI asked for USD100,000 for the job and received USD15,000 as an advance payment on June 9, 2023.
It was during the same month that President Joe Biden had invited Prime Minister Modi on a historic state visit, which took place on June 22. According to the indictment, Yadav told Gupta and the hired killer not to do the job immediately before or during the State visit.
The indictment reveals that there was a link between the murder of another Sikh separatist Nijjar in Canada during the same period. Federal prosecutors have shared communications between Yadav, Gupta and the alleged killer on the two incidents.
“A few minutes later, Yadav messaged Gupta, instructing: "let them also verify by their own... if they are able to get some proof that he is inside..it will be a go ahead from us," a reference to giving the green light to assassinate the Victim as soon as it could be verified that he was at his residence,” the federal prosecutors alleged.
The Department of Justice said the victim is a vocal critic of the Government of India and leads a U.S.-based organization that advocates for the secession of Punjab, a state in northern India that is home to a large population of Sikhs, an ethnoreligious minority group in India.
“The victim has publicly called for some or all of Punjab to secede from India and establish a Sikh sovereign state called Khalistan, and the Government of India has banned the Victim and his separatist organization from India. U.S. law enforcement detected and disrupted the plot to murder the Victim,” it said.
