Bhushan alleged nine Muslim voters’ names were wrongly deleted from Bihar’s electoral rolls ahead of assembly polls
Patna
Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Saturday accused the Bihar government of “corruption at the highest level,” alleging that 1,000 acres of land were leased to a leading conglomerate at an extremely low rate. Speaking at a press conference in Patna, Bhushan referred to a Bhagalpur power project where a 30-year lease was reportedly granted at just one rupee per year.
He claimed the deal could cause an annual loss of around Rs 5,000 crore to the state exchequer. Bhushan demanded transparency and fairness in land acquisition and suggested setting up a commission to ensure affected people receive adequate compensation.
Earlier this week, Congress had staged a march over the issue, but Bihar Industry Minister Nitish Mishra denied any wrongdoing. He stated the company won the contract fairly by offering electricity at the lowest rate among four bidders.
Bhushan also raised concerns over alleged anomalies in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of Bihar’s assembly polls. He claimed the names of nine Muslim voters from Sheikhpura district were wrongfully deleted and not reflected in either the draft rolls or the list of declared dead, absent, or shifted voters.
He criticised the Election Commission for allegedly taking over responsibilities related to ascertaining citizenship, a prerogative of the central government and courts. Bhushan termed populist measures by the state government as “electoral bribes” aimed at influencing voters before elections. CPI(ML) Liberation MLA Satyadeo Ram supported Bhushan’s criticism, calling the SIR exercise a tactic to divert public attention from failures of the ruling NDA, which has been in power in Bihar for 20 years.