Taking a strong exception to Giriraj Singh's alleged involvement in the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) toppers scam, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Monday sought a clarification from the Union Minister and demanded his resignation.
"Giriraj Singh ji should give a clarification. It was all going good for them when they were putting blame on us. Now, when we have put all the evidences, it is pinching them. They have always misled the people and they do politics by insulting others. We strongly object to this. Whoever will be found guilty will not be spared," Yadav told ANI.
Backing his father and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's assertion that Bachcha Rai had no connection with the party, he said the Vishun Roy College principal was not their associate.
"In a newspaper, it came out he has revealed that a central minister is also involved in this and wanted to open a medical college. We got the photo and by tweeting it we tried to show when anyone comes in a rally, you cannot ask for probe. But when someone comes in your personal programme and gives awards to toppers, this means you know the person. When he (Bachchai Rai) is saying a central minister is involved and with him you want to open a medical college, that means it's a serious issue," he added.
The Deputy Chief Minister further said that he would have been called as the chief guest and not Giriraj Singh if his family indeed had close relations with Bachcha Rai.
"The Chief Minister had gone in a personal programme. The gate was open on Lalu ji's birthday and many people clicked photos with him. Giriraj Singh had gone to the college in 2013 and when his money was stolen that included foreign currency.that incident also took place in 2013 and the photo that I posted was also of 2013," he said.
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Further escalating his attack on the BJP-led NDA Government, Yadav pointed out that even the central ministers were not coming out in Singh's support.
"The BJP ministers know how much honest Giriraj Singh is. No one gave any clarification on his behalf, be it Sushil Modi, Mangal Pandey, Nand Kishore Yadav or Prem Kumar. The BJP ministers are not supporting him. The way Giriraj Singh has always been into controversies.he should resign," said Yadav.
"They were sending us to Pakistan. Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi can only tell their actual place," he added while taking a jibe at the BJP top brass.
In the wake of the recent controversy surrounding the BSEB toppers scam, the Deputy Chief Minister yesterday attempted to corner Girijaj Singh while alleging that the BJP leader is a family friend and business partner of the mastermind.
Yadav shared a picture on his Twitter handle of the Union Minister along with the Vishun Roy College principal, who is said to be the mastermind behind this scam.
Amid mounting pressure with regard to alleged irregularities in the 10+2 examinations, Bachcha Rai surrendered before the police earlier on Saturday.
An FIR was registered against four students and the director of the college in connection with the scam.
The four students against whom the case has been registered are Sourabh Shrestha, Rahul Kumar, Ruby Rai and Shalini.
Following the furore over the Bihar Board examination toppers being unable to answer basic questions related to their stream eventually leading to a re-examination, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier said the guilty won't be spared, adding the investigation into this matter will be done with a criminal angle.
The BSEB earlier on June 4 cancelled the results of two toppers, including Sourabh Shrestha, of the Intermediate (Science) examinations after they failed to prove their merits in a re-test.
The board had on June 3 asked Sourabh and his college mate Rahul Kumar, who were among the 13 toppers from the arts and science streams in the Class XII examinations, to reappear in a re-test following a controversy over their merits.
Saurabh Shrestha from the science stream, who had secured 485 out of 500, was caught on camera failing to answer basic questions.
Ruby Rai, the arts topper, from the same college failed to take the re-test earlier on Friday citing health reasons.
Rai had secured 444 marks out of 500 in the arts stream. However, on camera she did not even appear to know the number of subjects in her course.