Last Updated: December 09, 2023, 16:47 IST
The BJP has been quick to seize the issue by putting out pictures of Sahu’s closeness with Rahul Gandhi.
Dhiraj Prasad Sahu lost two Lok Sabha elections but has been sent to the Rajya Sabha by the Congress thrice now. Sahu says his family has been associated with the Congress since Independence
“Dhiraj Prasad Sahu has a vision of creating a prosperous and inclusive society, where all citizens have equal opportunities to succeed”. Or so says a rather ironical line in the profile of Sahu on his website. Over the past four days, Income Tax authorities have found nearly Rs 300 crore in cash from premises belonging to Sahu, who has been a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha for the last 14 years.
Sahu is the quintessential Congress politician who has come up the ladder since being associated with the NSUI at Ranchi University in 1978 and being part of the district Congress committees. How much the party values him shows in the fact that when he lost his maiden Lok Sabha election in May 2009 from the Chatra seat in Jharkhand, the party was nevertheless quick to bring him to Parliament. A month later in June 2009, he was elected as a Rajya Sabha MP by the Congress.
He was elected to the Upper House two more times and is presently in his third term since 2018. While he was in the Rajya Sabha, Congress again gave Sahu a Lok Sabha ticket from Chatra in 2014, but he lost badly by polling little over 16% votes and barely saved his deposit. So while Sahu from Lohardaga in Jharkhand may have never won a Lok Sabha or Assembly election for the Congress, he has been the party’s trusted face in the Rajya Sabha.
BJP in Attack Mode
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet on Friday, highlighting a newspaper report, has brought the I-T seizures from Sahu into the national spotlight. The BJP has been quick to seize the issue by putting out pictures of Sahu’s closeness with Rahul Gandhi. Various BJP state presidents have held press conferences across the country to highlight the issue and project Congress as a corrupt party. The BJP has also held a press conference in Delhi.
BJP Jharkhand chief Babulal Marandi has alleged that the seized cash belongs to the top Congress leadership and ED should probe. Sahu has maintained a studied silence for the last four days, especially after his affidavit to Parliament had only declared cash worth Rs 27 lakh in his family’s possession and bank balance of about Rs 8.59 crore. Some in the Congress in Jharkhand say the Sahu Group runs several businesses and that he will explain the cash recovery to the authorities as per the course of the law.
Sahu, on his website, says he belongs to a family which has been associated with the Congress party since Independence. “Sahu strives to create an environment where the state’s rich natural resources are used sustainably to benefit all citizens,” his website says. Such claims are coming back to pinch Sahu now. His close association with the Congress leadership is costing the party too.
