Patna, July 19: In a new twist to the internal tussle in Samata Party, its two expelled MPs today claimed to have "authentic" evidence to prove corruption charges against Railway Minister Nitish Kumar and challenged the latter to file defamation suits against them, if the charges were found untrue. "Nitish Kumar has swindled crores in awarding railway contracts, purchase of railway equipment and recruitment of staff. We wrote a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in April to get the scandals probed. Frightened of being exposed, Kumar worked over-time to get us ousted from the party," Raghunath Jha and Brahmanand Mandal told reporters here.
Jha and Mandal said they had "authentic documentary evidences" to prove alleged irregularities in purchase of hydraulic jacks, diversion and misappropriation of funds in laying tracks, corruption in recruitment of staff through railway recruitment board in Bihar and giving railway contracts in Bihar to mafia dons. "If our allegations are found untrue, Kumar can file defamation suits against us," they said.
Rubbishing the allegations, Kumar at a recent party meet in Delhi resigned from the Union Cabinet, triggering a major crisis in the party, which was resolved after senior leaders including George Fernandes persuaded him to take back his resignation. Bureau Report