Shelter Home Issue Rocks Bihar Assembly for 2nd Day, Tejashwi Yadav Wants CM Nitish Kumar's Resignation

Muzaffarpur/Patna, Jul 25: The Bihar Assembly witnessed pandemonium for a second day today over the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal, with the RJD accusing the ruling NDA of trying to influence the probe and demanding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's resignation.

Leader of Opposition and RJD lawmaker Tejashwi Yadav alleged that Brajesh Thakur, the patron of an NGO which ran the shelter home, was associated with the chief minister's campaign team in Muzaffarpur during the last Lok Sabha elections.

He reiterated his demand for a High Court-monitored CBI probe into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at the state-funded shelter home. There were fiery exchanges in the assembly over the issue yesterday as well. Today, Congress MLA Vijay Shankar Dubey raised the issue in the House during the Question Hour and demanded a CBI probe.

Yadav told reporters that Kumar should resign taking moral responsibility for failure to maintain law and order as he also holds the home portfolio. "In view of the spiralling rise in the incidence of crimes against women, especially young girls, we have decided to give slogan of 'NDA bhagao, beti bachao' during our statewide cycle rally beginning later this week", Tejashwi said.

He was joined by a delegation of the RJD, Congress, Hindustani Awam Morcha and CPI-ML.

"During our visit to Muzaffarpur, we met a cross-section of people who told us that some leaders sitting in New Delhi and Patna were calling up officials in the administration with a view to influencing the investigation into the case.

"We have been saying this that the ruling dispensation in the state was trying to shield the accused, many of whom are close to the people in power," he said.

"I have been told that Brajesh Thakur, the patron of the NGO which ran the shelter home, had been a part of the campaign team of the chief minister in Muzaffarpur during the last Lok Sabha elections", he claimed.

Yadav also alleged that according to information he had Thakur was a frequent visitor to the office of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. "A Hindi daily run by him is said to have received lavish advertisements from the state's Information and Public Relations Department", the RJD leader alleged.

"The suspicions grew stronger in the wake of the fact that Thakur's name did not figure initially among the accused. After his arrest, he was reportedly not cooperating with the investigation and yet his police remand has not been sought", he alleged.

"Apparently, the mobile phones of the accused have not been sent for forensic examination as these could help fetch deleted messages, some of which could be incriminating in nature", Yadav alleged.

The RJD leader also claimed that CCTV cameras, if any, were not examined and though the shelter home housed minor girls, the opposition delegation learnt that abortion tools were kept there. "This aspect has not been examined either".

"In this backdrop, it is clear that the state government has neither the competence nor the intention to carry out a fair and impartial investigation. We wonder why it is not ordering a CBI inquiry despite the statement given by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday", the RJD leader said.

HAM president and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said the government took a month to act on the social audit report on the shelter home and officials took another few days to file an FIR.

He wondered whether the delay was intended to enable the culprits to tamper with evidence and said the High Court should take suo motu cognisance of the case and order a CBI probe.

Opposition MLAs, including those from the RJD and the Congress, trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans against the Nitish Kumar government's refusal to hand over the matter to the CBI.

Some of the agitating MLAs also started banging the tables of the Assembly reporters. Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary took strong exception to it and warned the legislators that such unruly behaviour could lead to stern action.

As the sloganeering continued, he adjourned the proceedings till lunch.

Bihar Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had yesterday said he was satisfied with the progress of police investigation into the case and that there was no need for a CBI probe.

He had said a medical examination of 29 of the 42 inmates had confirmed that they were sexually exploited. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi had yesterday told the House the government was trying to neither shield nor implicate anyone. "The matter had come to light, not because of you (opposition), but because of a social audit conducted by the government itself," he had said.