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Criminals rule the roost in saffron ministry

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

''Even the Indian army is known to have taken the assistance of terrorists to fight terrorism, both in Kashmir and the North-East.''

That is Bharatiya Janata Party Uttar Pradesh unit chief Raj Nath Singh, justifying the Kalyan Singh government's decision to induct criminals into his 93-member jumbo ministry.

The BJP's desperation to defend Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's decision throws up several such comparisons. ''You see, like the Indian army, the BJP's sincerity and commitment remains unquestionable,'' says Raj Nath Singh.

Observers say it is good the BJP did not apply the same logic to portfolio allocation. Had that been done, the state would have created history with someone facing attempt to murder and dacoity charges presiding over the home ministry.

''I could have proved my worth as a home minister,'' claimed Congress defector and Youth Welfare Minister Shyam Sunder Sharma who faces charges in at least 18 cases of attempt to murder, dacoity and rioting. ''Never mind, you will see how I will infuse new life into my ministry, otherwise considered an insignificant portfolio.''

Another Congress defector Hari Shankar Tiwari, considered the leading mafioso of eastern UP, now holds the science and technology portfolio. With 25 cases -- nine murders, 10 attempts to murder, three dacoities and an equal number of kidnappings -- registered against him, Tiwary presides over the development of science and technology.

''God save science and technology with a man who can only handle the trigger of a gun sitting in judgment over those who work with test-tubes,'' said a retired remote sensing scientist.

Perhaps Tiwary's own reaction to the portfolio strengthens the fears. ''I will go back to the city and find out what this portfolio means,'' he told his enthusiastic supporters in his native village in Gorakhpur. ''I do not know whether this portfolio of science and technology is formed of one or two departments,'' he told Rediff On The NeT.

Independent legislator Raghuraj Pratap Singh, known as 'Raja Bhaiya', has two murder and three attempt to murder cases registered against him. As the state's programme implementation minister, he is supposed to monitor various development schemes funded both by the state and the central government. ''I can assure you that a man like Raja Bhaiya will be able to keep a much better eye on development programmes that were often carried out only on paper,'' claimed a senior BJP leader.

And Raja Bhaiya is equally confident of making his ministerial stint a ''grand success''. Despite angling for key portfolios like home or forest, he claimed, ''I am happy with whatever has been entrusted to me. I will impress the chief minister with my sincere and good work. Maybe then I will get a better portfolio.''

Congress defector Amar Mani Tripathi, with 20 criminal cases including three murders and seven attempts to murder, is the minister of state for youth welfare. A keen aspirant for the home portfolio, Tripathi said, ''The working of the police needs total reorientation.... Never mind, the present portfolio goes well with my age, and I am confident of proving my worth in the ministry.''

Liquor baron Jitendra Jaiswal alias Pappu Jaiswal is the culture minister.

Textile Minister Sardar Singh and his deputy Prem Prakash Singh, who have crossed over from the Bahujan Samaj Party, do not lag behind. They, too, face charges of murder and attempt to murder.

The BJP, too, has made its presence felt in the tainted list. Shiv Pratap Shukla, once a detenu under the National Security Act, is the minister for prisons. Then, there are Vinay Pandey and Sri Ram Sonkar, both accused in cases of attempt to murder, who are in charge of home guards and national integration respectively.

The fact that none of these ministers have been convicted in any case gives the BJP the licence to defend Kalyan Singh's decision. ''The day they are charge-sheeted, they will cease to be ministers,'' asserted Kalyan Singh. ''Who will, however, bell the cat when all of them are honourable ministers?''

Though the BJP's image might have taken a beating, the chief minister and Raj Nath Singh pat themselves for keeping the party in power. ''If we had failed to win the trust vote, we would have been ridiculed in the same manner as when our government fell at the Centre,'' said Raj Nath Singh. ''The Opposition that ridiculed us then is now crying hoarse as they have been beaten in their own game.''

EARLIER COLUMN:
A preposterous gang of rogues

EARLIER REPORT:
Mega cabinet expansion in UP, 70 new ministers inducted

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