Between 2004 and 2009, when Lalu Prasad Yadav served as Union Railway Minister in the UPA government, two IRCTC hotels—BNR Ranchi and BNR Puri—were leased to Sujata Hotels on a quid pro quo basis. In return, prime land in Patna was transferred to a company controlled by Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and their son Tejashwi Yadav for a throwaway price of ₹1.5 crore. The tender process was conveniently tweaked to ensure Sujata Hotels bagged the contract.

This pattern—sacrificing public interest for personal gain—has remained unchanged across regimes. In 2012, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 telecom licences issued under the first-come, first-served (FCFS) policy during the 2G spectrum scam, calling the process “arbitrary and capricious.”

Licences sold for ₹1,730 crore were flipped for nearly ₹10,000 crore, enriching middlemen and political........

© Free Press Journal