People are provoking Nitish Kumar to expel Tejashwi Yadav: Shivanand Tiwari

Recent CBI raids on properties associated with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, his son Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and other family members have strained relations with its ruling alliance partner JD(U). Senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari spoke to Rohit E David on the political fallout of the raids in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar's strategic moves in the last few days and the prospect of the alliance breaking up:

Why should the Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav not resign given the allegations against him?
There is no reason for Tejashwi to resign. BJP doesn't have so much power that just by giving false statements in newspapers it can get Tejashwi removed.

Are you upset with JD(U) and Nitish Kumar for not publicly defending the Yadavs so far?
They are going to have their party meeting soon. Rest assured that JD(U) will speak on this matter after talks with everyone. Nothing will happen to this government. This alliance will survive.

Does Nitish not know what is going on in Bihar? Is Ram Vilas Paswan a sadhu who is speaking against Lalu Prasad? Will the country's corruption come to an end simply by going after Lalu?

But hasn't JD(U) said that it won't attend RJD's upcoming Modi Bhagao rally?
This is incorrect. Nitish has categorically said that if they get an invitation they will definitely be part of this rally.Many people had asked him about the invite so he said that he has got an informal request and not a formal one.This is on record. There are no ifs and buts, Nitish had said it himself, period.

Lalu says the raids are an attempt to destroy his party but how can you defend corruption?
There is nothing new in these CBI raids. These raids have been CBI raids. These raids have been done with vendetta in mind: to destroy RJD in Bihar. Can anyone tell me why there are raids happening in Bihar now? Why is corruption being seen only in this state? Only one set of people are being targeted: like Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati. Is there no corruption anywhere else? Why is no one seeing former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel's daughter Anar Patel's land scam? Anyone who is opposing BJP is being targeted. Their aim is to finish their rivals. CBI is being fully utilised by the political party in power. The same thing is taking place with the income tax department. They are not acting as independent bodies.

But what about the ethics of Tejashwi continuing as a minister?
There are many people who are provoking Nitish to remove Tejashwi from the cabinet. I want to ask a question to Narendra Modi. How come he has kept Uma Bharti in his cabinet? Why is no one speaking about this? A trial is going on by order of the Supreme Court for her. Why is everyone mum? In Tejashwi's case, not even a charge sheet has been placed and people are raising their voices against him.

Do you still believe there is no danger to your coalition government in Bihar?
There is no danger to the alliance. Why would Nitish break away? These raids have not been done by Nitish. Moreover, Lalu was convicted in the fodder scam. The alliance happened after all that took place. For the 2019 elections, Lalu is working on a grand alliance with a common agenda.

How confident are you that Nitish won't break your alliance and go with BJP?
Will he run the government with the support of BJP? The people of Bihar know that Nitish has been against Modi.Nitish had cancelled Modi's dinner when the national executive meeting of BJP was going on in Bihar. How can they come together? If by any chance, Nitish does make the government with the help of BJP, will he get the same respect?

In 2008, you had filed a petition in court against Lalu but now you are defending him. How can you justify this?
I was with Nitish in 2008 when, along with Lalan Singh, I pressed charges against Lalu. Later, Lalan Singh gave a memorandum to Manmohan Singh for an enquiry into this matter. No enquiry took place. It must have been that the previous government didn't even consider the case liable to be investigated. From then on, this matter had been pending. Now, three years have passed since Modi's government came to power. So, it took them three years to do the raids? The only reason I am backing Lalu is because if he doesn't stay in Bihar, BJP will come to power there.