Allegations made in press conferences won’t hold, give details: Ashok Choudhary hits back at Prashant Kishor

New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) Bihar Minister and JD(U) leader Ashok Choudhary has strongly refuted allegations made by Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor, who accused him of amassing Rs 200 crore worth of “undisclosed properties” in just two years. Choudhary dismissed the claims as baseless, stating that allegations made during a press conference hold no merit unless backed by proper evidence.

The minister has responded by sending a Rs 100 crore defamation notice to Kishor, demanding a public apology and warning of legal action if the charges are not withdrawn.

“We’ve responded through a legal notice and asked him, how can the property be undisclosed when it is already listed in our election affidavit?” Choudhary said.

“There is a clear legal process for determining if a property is held under someone else’s name. In this case, I personally purchased the land, paid for it, and declared it in my affidavit submitted to the Election Commission back in April last year. So how can it be called a ‘benami’ (undisclosed or proxy-owned) property?” he asked.

He further challenged Kishor to provide evidence of wrongdoing.

“If he claims there’s financial misappropriation worth crores, let him name the accounts, identify the property in question, and share the details. Allegations made in press conferences won’t hold; we are ready to respond through a sworn affidavit in court,” Choudhary asserted.

Earlier, Kishor accused multiple leaders across party lines of corruption, including BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal, Health Minister Mangal Pandey, and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, alleging everything from bribe-taking to fake degrees.

However, it is the charges against Ashok Choudhary that have triggered the strongest pushback. The JD(U) Minister maintains that such “baseless and politically motivated” allegations are being made to create sensationalism and mislead the public.

“If he fails to apologise, we are ready to take this matter to court,” Choudhary warned.

As Bihar’s political climate heats up ahead of the 2025 Assembly elections, the war of words between political leaders is escalating.

–IANS

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