Patna: In another setback to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad, India’s public sector oil firm has cancelled the petrol pump licence of his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, who is health minister in the ruling Nitish Kumar government in Bihar. The action comes amid string of woes being faced by Prasad and his family over the past two months.
The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) cancelled the Bihar health minister’s licence for operating a petrol pump on Thursday night for allegedly furnishing fake details to the company at the time of applying for allotment.
Authorities said the land upon which the petrol pump stands has been registered in the name of his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav — who is the deputy chief minister in the grand alliance government — while as per rules the land must be in the name of same person.
BPCL’s rules further state that a petrol pump can be allocated only to persons who are unemployed, while Tej Pratap is currently the health minister in the Nitish Kumar government. Tej Pratap had been allotted the petrol pump in 2011 when the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was in power at the centre.
The action comes on a complaint made by the senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi who alleged the minister was not the real owner of the land on the Anisabad bypass road in Patna where the petrol pump is located.
Subsequently, the BPCL had served a notice on the minister seeking his reply to the allegations. In response, the health minister moved the court which put a stay on the cancellation of his petrol pump. On Thursday night, however, the court lifted the stay order.
His younger brother Tejashwi Yadav is already in trouble. The CBI registered a case of corruption against him and raided his house earlier this month. In the aftermath of the case, the opposition has questioned how a ‘tainted’ person could continue in the government and asked chief minister Nitish Kumar to dismiss his deputy from his cabinet.
Prasad, whose RJD is a partner in the government with Chief Minister Kumar’s party, has been in the media glare over controversial land deals. Prasad, his sons and daughter Misa Bharti are currently being investigated over allegations that they acquired many properties through fraudulent means.
