Sushma got bribes from Reddy brothers: Lalu

NEW DELHI: RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday waded into the Congress-BJP battle over Coalgate by accusing Sushma Swaraj of receiving bribes from the Reddy brothers , Karnataka’s controversial mining barons belonging to the BJP.

Taking exception to Swaraj’s allegation on Monday that Congress got “mota maal” (big bucks) for allotting coal mines without inviting bids, Lalu alleged that it was the BJP leader who was funded by the Reddy brothers . “Everybody knows who would get mota maal from Reddy brothers and who was their patron. Let there be a JPC inquiry into the activities of Reddy brothers and their links,” the RJD boss said.

Swaraj instantly shot back by saying that it was Congress which benefited from the Reddy brothers. “Shri Lalu Yadav wants to know as to who got mota maal from Reddy brothers. I would like to inform him and the country that the mota maal from Reddy brothers has gone to the Congress party,” she said. Swaraj further said all the mining biggies from Bellary got their mining leases at the instance of a Congress chief minister, although she did not mention names.

While focusing on Swaraj, Lalu targeted the BJP as a whole for its agitation in Parliament . He said the real reason why BJP was not letting Parliament function was its opposition to enact a law to facilitate reservation in promotions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. “This is a conspiracy. They are opposed to dalits and tribals and want to sabotage the promotion quota. They started the trouble just after prime minister gave a commitment at the all-party meeting to bring a bill for reservation in promotions ,” he said.

The sharp-tongued RJD boss also said BJP’s demand for the prime minister’s resignation was another confirmation that it was opposed to Sikhs and minorities. “They are majoritarian fascists and cannot tolerate the sight of someone from the minority community occupying the helm,” Lalu said, adding that the BJP was also conspiring to trigger communal riots to achieve communal polarization ahead of the 2014 polls.

Responding to Lalu’s allegation that she has been a beneficiary of the wealth of the Reddy brothers, Swaraj asserted, “I demand that all documents related to the recommendations and allotments to Reddy brothers be made public so that the country can know who got them monetary benefits and who made the recommendations for them. All the facts should be placed before the nation.”