Cambridge Analytica row: Tyagi defends son

PATNA: JD (U) secretary general

K C Tyagi

has denied allegations that his son Amrish Tyagi’s firm had tied up with British firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) to influence Bihar assembly elections in 2010.

Rejecting Congress’s claim, Tyagi told TOI on Wednesday that JD (U) did not take any help from the firm in 2010 Bihar assembly elections. “We did not hire CA for any work in 2010 assembly elections,” Tyagi added.

Tyagi also told newsmen in New Delhi on Thursday that there was only a “work relation” between his son Amrish’s company and CA. No financial transaction ever took place between the two firms. JD (U) has no relation with CA. Its CEO has never met Nitish ji or me. JD (U) is a socialist outfit and we stay away from such things, except for maybe Prashant Kishore ji helping us during last assembly polls,” Tyagi told reporters in the national capital.

Amrish is the owner of Ovleno Business Intelligence (OBI), which, according to allegations, has a tie up with Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL), the parent company of CA. OBI had reportedly listed the BJP, Congress and JD (U) as its clients on its website, which was taken down on Wednesday night.

CA, the British data analytics company, and Facebook have come under fire for allegedly harvesting personal data of Facebook users to influence elections in several countries, including the US. The CA’s website claims that it helped its client to win Bihar assembly elections in 2010.

Meanwhile, leader of opposition in state assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav took a dig at CM Nitish Kumar and PM Narendra Modi on Thursday, alleging that they took help of PR agencies like CA to create hype around their non-existent work. “Bihar CM Nitish’s close confidante Tyagi's son Amrish worked for CA and helped it work for BJP as report confirms! Nitish and PM Modi have a lot to answer (sic),” Tejashwi tweeted.