NEW DELHI, 16 December 2005 — Three days after the “cash for query” scam rocked the nation, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has placed under suspension its Lok Sabha member Manoj Kumar, party sources said yesterday. RJD national spokesman Shivanand Tiwari told that Kumar, party’s Lok Sabha member from Palamu in Jharkhand, was suspended by party supremo and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
A show-cause notice was served on Kumar on Dec. 12 soon after the scam was revealed to which he had replied within the three-day deadline set by the party. RJD’s national secretary general Ramdeo Bhandari, MP, told mediapersons that Kumar’s reply was under scrutiny.
Meanwhile, all the 10 Lok Sabha MPs caught on camera in the “cash for query” scam have outrightly rejected the allegations of them having taken money from undercover journalists and, alleged they have been framed under a conspiracy. Almost all the MPs, including five from BJP, have claimed in “almost similar” replies to the Lok Sabha committee probing the scam that the video tapes have been “doctored as part of a deep-rooted conspiracy”, sources said.
Meanwhile, a new report published by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has put the Bihar legislature in a fix. The report indicates that between 1994 and 2000, MLAs in the state were involved in travel related scams. The MLAs were fined 74,36,000 rupees for drawing travel reimbursements for around 752 to 1,192 kilometers. They also claimed railway coupons amounting to one crore but used only 19,49,000 rupees.
The most shocking fact of them all is that 58 MLAs availed of railway coupons as well as travel allowances. Left parties however, say that one report is not going to help solve the issue. “There are many such cases where public money is being misused in the name of MLA fund and government money,” said K.D. Yadav, Spokesperson, CPI(ML).
