Following protest from opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and the threat by the CPI-ML to take to the streets the HRD minister of Bihar, Mewalal Chaudhary, was asked to immediately submit his resignation letter.
Embarrassed by the storm caused in the social media chief minister Nitish Kumar invited the HRD minister and asked him to put in his papers. As reported ever since Nov 16 when the new ministry took oath Mewalal was under fire from different quarters—barring the BJP, which originally raised the issue.
As reported, it was the then leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly, Sushil Kumar Modi, who first raised the issue of irregularities in the appointment of assistant professor-cum-junior scientists when Mewalal Chaudhary was the vice chancellor of Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour in Bhagalpur (between 2010 and 2015).
When the issue was raised by Sushil Modi, Nitish was heading the Grand Alliance government. However, the matter was put on the back burner after Nitish crossed over to the NDA on July 27, 2017. But before that the then Governor, Ramnath Kovind had ordered an inquiry by a retired high court judge. The inquiry report indicted Mewalal and an FIR was then lodged against him.
Mewalal’s wife, Neeta Chaudhary, was the Janata Dal (United) MLA between 2010 and 2015. It was during this period that he was the VC of the BAU and the appointments were made. Curiously the BJP was partner of the JD-U till June 16, 2013.
After his tenure as the VC came to an end Mewalal joined Janata Dal (United) and got elected as the MLA in 2015 from the same Tarapur constituency from where his wife got elected. When the BJP raised the case Mewalal went underground. He was suspended from the party.
But since the home-coming of Nitish, hardly anything was heard about the case as it did not suit the BJP. Not only that, a request to prosecute him has been pending in the Raj Bhavan for gubernatorial sanction.
Mewalal once again managed to get a ticket of Janata Dal (United) as he was considered close to the chief minister and other party leaders.
Meanwhile, a former IPS officer, Amitabh Kumar Das, has called for the inquiry into the death of his wife Neeta under mysterious circumstances. She died last year in a gas cylinder blast in New Delhi. Mewalal too sustained injuries in it.
