Tejashwi accuses IT department of being partisan

PATNA: RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav today accused the Income Tax (IT) department of being partisan as, according to him, it never sought the details of the BJP's "expensive and hi-tech" rallies organised across the country.

"How many rallies does the RJD hold a year and how many hi-tech rallies does the BJP take out across the country in a year? Did the IT department ever muster the courage to send a notice to them (BJP), seeking the details of their expenditure on these rallies?" asked the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, while speaking to reporters here.

He said the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) would "certainly furnish" its reply if it received an IT notice vis-a-vis the expenses of the August 27 rally organised by the party here.

"We are not afraid of such things as they (Centre) can only intimidate us...They do not have the power to do anything beyond this," Tejashwi added.

He, however, did not confirm whether the RJD had received an IT notice for the rally.

"The party president may have got it," he said.

When contacted, senior IT officials refused to comment on the issue.

The August 27 RJD rally was attended by Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and rebel Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav among others.