UP cabinet minister Raja Bhaiya lands in trouble over his age

Controversial Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiya on Tuesday landed in another controversy over his age disclosed in his election nominations even as Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav backed him on his criminal antecedents.

As per the affidavit filed by Raja Bhaiah, the indendent MLA, with his nomination papers in assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, he mentioned his age as 38 years.

Raja won from Kunda seat in Pratapgarh district in 1993-the first time he entered the electoral fray--and if this affidavit is to be correct he should have been 19 years at that time, which is not the permissible age for contesting polls.

One can contest assembly polls only after attaining the age of 25 years.

Asked on the issue, Mulayam Singh Yadav said he would work good as he was a youth.

Besides Prision, Raja Bhaiya has been alloted Food and Civil Supplies department in Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's cabinet.

Raja Bhaiya was not available for comments.

On criminal antecedents of Raja Bhai, Mulayam said "no court has held Raja Bhaiya guilty. There are many allegations against party members. Who is there in SP who does not have FIR registered against him?"

Election results: CBI’s sword hangs over Mulayam, family

The Samajwadi Party pedalled to a podium finish in the UP polls, but a five-year-old Supreme Court order asking the CBI to inquire into an alleged disproportionate assets case of Mulayam Singh and kin could queer their victory pitch.

Going by the popular perception that the CBI heeds to the Centre's command in political cases, the Yadavs could ill-afford not to take note of the spoiler that the Congress-led UPA may prove for them. And the danger is neither far off nor improbable to be brushed aside. For, on October 26, 2007, the CBI had filed an application in the SC seeking permission to proceed ahead with the case on the ground that during the preliminary probe it had stumbled upon prima facie evidence on the alleged DA case of the SP chieftain, his sons, Akhilesh and Prateek, and daughter-in-law Dimple.

The CBI's plea that as an independent agency it did not take instructions from the government was filed in the court that was in the midst of hearing a petition filed by Akhilesh seeking review of the SC's March 2007 order passed on a PIL. The SC had ordered the CBI to submit the preliminary probe report to the Centre for further action.

When the matter was crucially poised before the court, there was a change in political equations with SP's 39 MPs rescuing the UPA during the 2008 trust vote on the Indo-US nuclear deal. Indebted by the SP's help, the UPA decided to pay back.

The CBI filed another application on December 6, 2008, seeking permission to withdraw its October 26, 2007 plea. The logic behind the flip-flop - a grave error in the calculation of assets had led the agency to believe that the SP chief and his family members had amassed wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. A bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph reserved orders on the plea. After three years, the order is yet to come and Justice Joseph has retired. This would warrant a fresh hearing in the case and possible fresh trouble.

What if the CBI does a somersault again? The fallout could be grave: prosecution of all the four important members of the SP first family.

Mayawati is expected to speak to media before resigning

A day after being dethroned from power in Uttar Pradesh, outgoing Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati will on Wednesday meet the state Governor to submit her resignation.

Prior to submitting her resignation, Mayawati is expected to speak to media.

It should be noted that during her tenure as UP CM, Mayawati rarely met the press and when she did, rarely answered any questions.

On Tuesday, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) hopes for a revival in the country’s most populous state were dashed as Uttar Pradesh's 12.73 crore voters rallied behind the Samajwadi Party's (SP) to hand it a stunning victory over the BSP.

Winning 224 seats, the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party is set to form the government in the state with a comfortable majority in the 403-member Assembly. Its performance comes as quantum jump to 2007 when it was voted out of power and got just 97 seats.

The BSP has been literally wiped out, securing 80 wins now against its unprecedented 206 seats in 2007.

Meanwhile, the BJP with 47 seats has slipped from its earlier standing of 51 seats in 2007 but then it was in alliance with the Apna Dal.

The real loser was the Congress.

Though the party fared slightly better from its 22 seat tally of 2007 by getting 28 wins, the party faced humiliation with a complete rout in Amethi and Rae Bareilly - bastions of the Gandhi family, seats which are held in the Lok Sabha by general secretary Rahul Gandhi and party chief Sonia Gandhi respectively.

Independents and other small parties who won 16 seats in the 2007 state Assembly polls managed 14 seats this time.

SP will decide today who will be next CM in UP

After ousting the BSP government of Mayawati through its impressive win in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, the parliamentary board of the Samajwadi Party will meet on today to decide who will be the next chief minister.

The meeting of the parliamentary board of the party is slated to start at 11 am during which name of the party's chief ministerial pick will be decided.

Although, Mulayam Singh Yadav will be chosen as the leader of the Samajwadi Party parliamentary board, there is a growing clamour for the coronation of his son Akhilesh, who is the man responsible for his party’s resurgence in UP.

Though, Akhilesh himself maintains that the reins of power will remain in the hands of his father, most of the newly-elected party MLAs, senior leaders and party workers feel that it is time for rewarding Akhilesh for pulling the party out of morass and scripting a new image for it.

When asked who will be the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh told reporters yesterday with all humility that Neta ji will be in the hot seat. He and other party leaders including Ram Gopal Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav also categorically ruled out that there was any dispute or any ambiguity over the leadership issue.

However, they maintained that any decision taken by the party chief and the parliamentary board would be acceptable to all of them.

So in this context, it would be interesting to see if SP chief feels the pulse of his supporters and decides to anoint his son-who has been the game changer for Samajawadi Party- the chief minister of the state to carry forward his legacy and fulfil the hopes of the state.

NRHM scam: UP health official found dead

The NRHM scam in Uttar Pradesh has turned murkier with another health official found dead under mysterious circumstances, the fifth victim in the last one year after the alleged bungling of over Rs.10,000 crore of central funds surfaced.

UP police found the body of Mahendra Sharma, an accountant, lying in a pool of blood with severe injuries on his head and face, from the Pasgawan health centre area in Lakhimpur Kheri district last evening.

52-year-old Sharma has been reported missing since February 7, police said.

The CBI, which is probing the scam, has asked the state police to beef up security of witnesses and suspects.

In 2010-11, two senior doctors associated with the health department were murdered within months of each other. Another official was found dead in a Lucknow jail. In January, a UP Jal Nigam officer allegedly committed suicide because he was being investigated in connection with the scam.

As the news of Sharma's death spread, Congress and BJP slammed the Mayawati government, accusing it of actively colluding in the "massive bungling".

Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi accused the Mayawati government of misuse of funds meant for improvement of health facilities in the state.

BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said, "the larger issue is the liability of Mayawati herself as the chief minister and the earlier regime of Mulayam Singh Yadav because the entire scam was spread over last about 7-8 years."

Family members of the accountant have accused health department officials of harassment.

Mithilesh Sharma, the wife of the deceased, said that frequent transfers of her husband had depressed him. She also accused health officials of withholding his salary.

Mithilesh alleged that after solemnising their daughter's marriage on November 21 last, when Sharma reported for duty in Pasgawan, he was told about his another transfer.

Meanhwile, the CBI in New Delhi denied having questioned Sharma in connection with the probe.

"CBI has neither questioned nor summoned this person. CBI is in close touch with local police regarding safety concerns of potential witnesses, suspects, etc," a CBI spokesperson said here.

UP polls: Rahul, BJP President Gadkari head to Kanpur

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi who has been campaigning hard for the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls is scheduled to hold a rally in Kanpur on today.

The Congress MP will have a busy day as roadshow and various meetings are included in his schedule.

Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said, "Rahul Gandhi's campaign programme in Kanpur is confirmed. He will takeout a roadshow in support of the party candidates."

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari will also be seen today in Kanpur where he is scheduled to address people in support of his party candidates.

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav will be campaigning in Auraiya district in Uttar Pradesh today.

Kanpur will go to polls on February 23, the fifth phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh.

Mulayam may support Congress to oust BJP

Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today said that he is willing to support the Congress in Uttar Pradesh after polls if he sees the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coming to power.

"There is a wave in favour of SP, which is going to form the next government in the state...If I see BJP coming to power, our party can support Congress in the state to prevent communal forces," Mr Yadav told an election rally at Hamirpur.

The Congress, though, appeared lukewarm in its response to the SP's offer. The question is "premature and unnecessary at this point of time", party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury told reporters in reply to a volley of questions on the issue at the AICC briefing here.

Noting that the Congress' attitude on the issue was going to be "wait and watch", she said that "there has been no pre-poll pact between Congress and the Samajwadi Party. We have not arrived at post poll scenario as yet. We still have most phases of the polling left."

"I have no authority to rule it in or rule it out", she said but insisted that party leaders including Sonia Gandhi have made the party's stand against any alliance clear.

On whether Mr Yadav's offer was a virtual admission that his party was not getting majority on its own, she said it seems so.

The Congress is keeping its cards close to its chest on the issue of alliances in UP as it does not want to give an impression that it is a 'B team' of any other party.

Asked by a reporter if the Congress would like to go with Mulayam or Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati in the post-poll scenario, Chowdhury sarcastically replied, "When the time will come, the party will consult you."

PM refuted views that China is planning to attack India

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday refuted views that China is planning to attack India and maintained that the policy of both the countries is to engage in dialogue on the border issues though there has not been much progress in recent times.

Singh assured the Lok Sabha during Question Hour that India's borders with China "by and large remain peaceful". "Our government does not share the view that China plans to attack India," Singh said.

The Prime Minister's response came after Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed in the House that he has information that China has made preparations to attack India and has marked out areas near the borders for this purpose. He said the attacks were imminent. Yadav maintained that the neighbouring country has also stopped flow of Brahmaputra river water to India.

The Prime Minister, however, maintained that he had assurance from the highest quarters that China has not stopped flow of Brahmaputra waters to India. Singh accepted that there were intrusions from China into areas which India considers to be a part of its territory. However, China differs from India's claim on this issue. "These matters are sorted out by the area commanders of the two countries," Singh said.

The Prime Minister stated that India has followed the policy of engaging in dialogue and good relations with China and underlined that the erstwhile NDA government had also continued with this policy.

India and China have been engaged in dialogue through its representatives on the border issue. Singh said both countries had made some progress in talks in 2005 and thereafter, but in recent times not much has been made.