Sacked Mayawati Ministers find refuge in BJP camp

Sacked Mayawati Ministers find refuge in BJP camp
ATIQ KHAN

[image: Expelled BSP Ministers Babu Singh Kushwaha (right) and Badhshah
Singh join BJP in the presence of BJP National Vice President Vinay Katiyar
and Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Surya Pratap Shahi, at the Party office in New
Delhi on Tuesday.]

Two of them get BJP ticket for U.P. Assembly polls

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2772476.ece

The controversial former Ministers of the Mayawati government have found
refuge in the Bharatiya Janata Party, which till recently ran a campaign
against corruption in the Bahujan Samaj Party regime and even accused the
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and her family members of graft.

After inducting the former Minister of State for Ayurveda, Daddan Mishra,
and the former Minister of State (independent charge) for Backward Classes
Welfare, Avdhesh Kumar Verma, on Monday, both of whom were given ticket for
the coming Assembly elections, the BJP on Tuesday admitted the former
Family Welfare Minister, Babu Singh Kushwaha, and the former Labour
Minister, Badshah Singh.

Three of the four Ministers were sacked by the Chief Minister and Mr.
Kushwaha and Mr. Singh were also suspended from the BSP on various charges,
including graft. The former Minister, Fateh Bahadur Singh, dismissed by Ms.
Mayawati in December-end on alleged corruption charges, is also likely to
join the BJP.

Once considered a close aide of Ms. Mayawati, Mr. Kushwaha was asked to
resign by the Chief Minister in the wake of the National Rural Health
Mission (NRHM) scam. The detection of the scam was preceded by the murder
of two Chief Medical Officers of the Family Welfare Department in October
2010 and April 2011. The mysterious death of the deputy CMO of the same
department, Y.S. Sachan, in the Lucknow district jail in June 2011 added
another twist to the murky tale.

Since Mr. Kushwaha's name figured in the NRHM scandal, Ms. Mayawati banned
him from attending party functions. With the Central Bureau of
Investigation taking over the case, the former Minister was quizzed for
about eight hours in Delhi recently.

Interestingly, the BJP's national secretary and convenor of the party's
corruption expose committee Kirit Somaiya alleged, at a press conference in
Lucknow on December 31, that 24 companies were in the names of Mr.
Kushwaha's family members. Alleging that the fresh scam accounted for Rs.
10,000 crore, Mr. Somaiya said the file had been submitted to the CBI in
Delhi. Mr. Somaiya earlier released a booklet and a CD related to the
alleged corruption charges against the BSP government. He charged that
several bogus firms had been floated by Ms. Mayawati and BSP general
secretary Satish Chandra Mishra's family members.

While Mr. Kushwaha is an (BSP) MLC, the names of two other former
Ministers, Mr. Mishra and Mr. Verma, figured in the list of the 81 BJP
candidates released in Delhi on Monday night. While, Mr. Mishra, a sitting
MLA from Bhinga in Shravasti district (he won the seat on BSP ticket in
2007), has been fielded in the constituency, Mr. Verma was named BJP
candidate from Dadraul in Shahjahanpur district. Mr. Mishra quit the BSP
and the government after he was denied ticket by Ms. Mayawati. His
resignation as Minister was accepted by Governor B.L. Joshi on Monday.

An enquiry had been instituted by Lokayukta N.K. Mehrotra against Mr.
Badshah Singh into charges of acquiring assets disproportionate to his
income and other allegations. Mr. Singh was sacked by Ms. Mayawati and
later suspended from the BSP. The former Minister, who was earlier in the
BJP before he came to the BSP, is the sitting MLA from Maudaha in Hamirpur
district, is likely to be nominated in the same constituency.