JD(U) for probe into BJP's land purchase before demonetisation

 JD(U) today demanded a probe to ascertain if black money was used for alleged purchase of land by BJP in different districts of Bihar, a few weeks before the demonetisation announcement on November 8.

BJP, however, said the purchases were made in a transparent manner.
State JD(U) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh questioned the purchase of land by BJP in Bihar and elsewhere "a few weeks before enforcement of demonetisation".

"After seeing the registry papers it becomes clear the land purchase has been done on instruction from top leaders of BJP," Singh alleged in a press conference in presence of party spokesmen Neeraj Kumar and Rajiv Ranjan.

"Purchase of land on a large scale within a week and many on a single day in different districts raised suspicion that top leaders of BJP were in the know of demonetisation decision beforehand," the leaders said.

BJP spent Rs 4.7 crore to purchase lands in Kisanganj and Arwal districts on September 19, in Katihar on September 16, in Madhubani and Madhepura on September 14, and in Lakhisarai on September 6, the JD(U) leaders claimed.

They demanded a judicial probe as well an inquiry by joint parliamentary committee to ascertain if land purchase in Bihar and elsewhere was made by black money or not.

Senior state BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, however, dismissed the allegation as "baseless" saying lands were purchased for opening party offices in districts and payments made through bank RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement).

"The decision to purchase land to open party offices in districts across the country was taken a year back and it has nothing to do with demonetisation order," Modi told PTI.

"Payments have been made through bank RTGS in a transparent manner. BJP files return to Income Tax in which all details of expenditure are there," he said.

"We have nothing to hide. Every details of such purchase are on the website," he added.
State BJP president Mangal Pandey and party state general secretary Sanjeev Chaurasia, MLA, echoed similar views.

On leakage of information about demonetisation, Modi said: "When Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati allege that even Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had no information about the decision to scrape Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes, how party leaders would know about it beforehand."