Prashant Kishor questions Bihar Dy CM's educational qualifications, calls him murder accused

Addressing a public meeting on Friday, Prashant Kishor called Choudhary an "expert" in changing names and cited an alleged murder case against him.

Kishore alleged that Choudhary was initially named Samrat Kumar Maurya, and he was an accused in a Congress leader's murder.

"Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary is an expert in changing names. People know that his name was Rakesh Kumar, which changed to Rakesh Kumar aka Samrat Choudhary, but this is not the complete truth. His original name was Samrat Kumar Maurya. He was accused of murder. Bombs were thrown at Congress leader Sadanand Singh, in which six people died. He came out of jail after six months, as he was a minor," Jan Suraaj, founder, said.

Questioning his educational qualification, he said that the Bihar School Examination Board had submitted in the Supreme Court that 'Samrat Kumar Maurya' had failed his matriculation exam.

Kishor said, "When he became a minister, he became a member of Vidhan Parishad and was given a ministerial post. He was suspended from the post due to his young age, and Samrat Choudhary says that the matter has been settled. I will tell you what has not been settled yet. Bihar School Examination Board told the Supreme Court that Samrat Kumar Maurya, who is claiming to have passed matriculation, has received 234 marks and failed."

He added that Samrat Choudhary, in an affidavit, wrote that he has passed class 7.

"In 2010, in an affidavit, Samrat Choudhary wrote that he is a 7th pass. He hasn't even passed matric, and he claims that he has a doctorate degree from the University of California... I want to ask, when did the Deputy CM pass matriculation?" he asked.

Meanwhile, Prashant Kishor also accused Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary of Benami property of over Rs 200 crore.

He alleged that his PA bought a property for Rs 34 lakhs, which was later transferred to Ashok Choudhary's daughter, Shambhavi Choudhary, for Rs 10 lakhs.

"Ashok Choudhary, a close aide of CM Nitish Kumar, has made a corruption record in Bihar. He has a lot of Benami Property. He had a PA, Yogendra Dutt. In 2019, Ashok Choudhary bought 0.7 acres of land under Yogendra Dutt's name for Rs 34 lakhs... Two years later, Yogendra Dutt transferred that land to Shambhavi Choudhary's name for Rs 34 lakhs, but he was paid only Rs 10 lakhs," he said.

"Income Tax gave him (Ashok Choudhary) a notice that only Rs 10 lakhs were paid for a property worth 34 lakhs... To save himself from Income Tax, he transferred Rs 25 lakhs to his PA's account... Through this Modus Operandi, in the last two years, he (Ashok Choudhary) has gathered property worth more than Rs 200 crores in the name of his wife, daughter and a trust named Manav Vaibhav Vikas Trust," he further said.

These allegations come ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections later this year.

Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj is set to contest independently of the ruling NDA alliance and the Opposition's Mahagathbandhan led by RJD and Congress. (ANI)