Prashant Kishor — the founder of the Jan Suraaj Party — alleged on Monday that Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary had evaded trial in a decades-old murder case. He falsely claimed to be a minor before the apex court.
During a press conference in Patna, Kishor asserted that an affidavit filed by Choudhary in 2020, at the time of his election to the state legislative council, directly contradicted his earlier age claim submitted to the apex court. He demanded the Deputy Chief Minister Choudhary's "immediate dismissal".
Choudhary, a former state Bharatiya Janata Party president who holds key portfolios such as Finance in the Nitish Kumar government, quickly dismissed the accusations. He taunted the political strategist-turned-activist for acting like an "investigative journalist," claiming: "Left with nothing new to say, the poor chap seems to have become an investigative journalist. There is a proper forum to raise an issue."
Kishor said that his party would seek an appointment with the Governor on Tuesday to "press for Choudhary's sacking."
He also urged CM Kumar and his ally, the BJP, to act immediately, warning that their failure to do so "shall stand exposed before the people."
The Jan Suraaj founder alleged that Choudhary had "faced trial in a case involving the murder of six people in his native Tarapur, in Munger district, way back in 1995." According to Kishor's claim, "Choudhary moved the Supreme Court, claiming that he was only 14 years of age when the mass murder took place. He was let off since juveniles could not be put on trial."
Kishor then highlighted the contradiction: "If we look at Choudhary's affidavit of 2020, he states his age at the time to be 51 years. Taking that into account, he would have been in his 20s in 1995. These facts make him liable for prosecution," he alleged, adding that these were far more serious than his previous charges against the Deputy CM regarding an alleged fake D.Litt degree.
Kishor also challenged Choudhary to "come clean on his role in the Shilpi-Gautam murder case," a high-profile case from 1999 where Shilpi Jain and Gautam Singh were found dead in a car near the house of Sadhu Yadav (brother of then-Chief Minister Rabri Devi). Although the CBI later filed a closure report ruling the deaths as suicide, Choudhary was a minister in the state at the time, his cabinet position widely seen as a reward for his father, Shakuni Choudhary, switching allegiance from the Samata Party to the RJD.
In a separate move, Kishor demanded a "public withdrawal" of the defamation notice served by Ashok Choudhary, a state minister and Janata Dal (United) national general secretary. He warned that if Ashok Choudhary failed to comply, he would release documents related to further financial irregularities, "worth ₹500 crore." Ashok Choudhary had previously initiated a legal notice demanding a ₹100 crore civil suit unless Kishor apologised for accusing him of involvement in an irregular ₹200 crore land deal.
The Jan Suraaj founder further claimed that a trust, which included the mother-in-law of Ashok Choudhary's daughter (Shambhavi, a sitting Lok Sabha MP), had "received a donation of ₹100 crore." He demanded that all those associated with the trust, including a close relative of Chief Secretary Pratyay Amrit, disclose the source of the income, or face doubts regarding their integrity.
Finally, the 47-year-old politician also hit back at "inconsequential leaders of the BJP" who alleged that he was funding his party through "shell companies." He clarified, "I have received money, to run my party, from those whom I had offered political consultancy, in my previous avatar, without then charging any fee... I have also paid GST on the money I have raised," stating that the funds were used solely for building a political alternative in his home state of Bihar.
Also read: 'Jan Suraaj will either be first or last': Prashant Kishor
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