Bihar land deals: Opposition demands CBI probe

Opposition members in the Bihar assembly demanded resignation of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and a CBI probe into allotment of land to family members of the ruling alliance leaders. The state assembly was adjourned twice after slogan shouting opposition members,demanding immediate cancellation of the allotment. The Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Abdul Bari Siddiqi, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, said the opposition will not remain silent till CBI probe is ordered. Siddiqi said the government had allotted factory plots of the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIDA) to sons and daughters of Janata Dal-United (JDU) and Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) leaders. The beneficiaries included ministers and legislators and they all got the plots in violation of the rules. According to BIADA website, the land that has been allotted for industrial units, it has given 87,120 square feet of land to the daughter of Human Resource Development Minister P.K.Shahi. It also gave 15,500 square feet land to JD-U-MP Jagdish Sharma's son and 87,120 square feet land to the daughter of Social Welfare Minister Perveen Amanullah who is the wife of senior IAS officer Afzal Amanullah. A close relative of former BJP legislator, Awdesh Narayan Singh got 21,7800 square feet while BJP legislator Ashok Agarwal's son Saurabh Agarwal was given two huge plots. Mangni Lal Mandal, leader of the Bihar Nav Nirman Manch said the scam exposed Nitish Kumar's claim of providing good governance. Nitish Kumar on Saturday ordered a probe into the land allotment issue. He stated that he had ordered a probe by the chief secretary and action will be taken against guilty if the allegations are found true. Reported by      AR