Lalu's son Tej Pratap Yadav (right) owns a petrol pump which he allegedly acquired illicitly.
Lalu Yadav's son and Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav has received a query from Bharat Petroleum. How did he get a licence for a petrol pump and why should it not be cancelled, the state-owned oil firm wants to know. The minister has been given 15 days to respond.
The opposition BJP has alleged that the petrol pump, located in the heart of Patna, had been acquired illegally. Which is also why the minister had not reveled it in his list of assets, the BJP said.
Mr Yadav's party, the RJD, has been quick to counter the accusation.
The pump was not operational and hence was not declared by the minister, the party had said. Party spokesman Manoj Jha had also added that the Yadavs have nothing to hide and that "everything is in the public domain."
Tej Pratap Yadav had been given the license for the petrol pump in 2011, though the land was in the name of an entrepreneur, Amit Katyal. It is now in the name of a company called AK Infosystems, in which Lalu Yadav's younger son, the state's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav is a director.
The petrol pump was one of the BJP's many allegations against the family of Lalu Yadav. Over the last month, senior BJP leader Sushil Modi had held 10 press conferences, alleging multiple instances of corruption. On each occasion, he has released documents that, he says, were evidence.
The minister's family has denied all the allegations. Asked about his sons' extensive business interests, Lalu, as he is fondly referred to by supporters, had said, "Should my sons die in poverty?"