Bajpai demands CBI probe in Yadav Singh graft case

While exhorting his party men to be ready for Assembly elections, Bajpai said they should not wait for 2017 as the incumbent government may go out on the issue of Yadav Singh itself.

During the BJP state executive meeting, Bajpai invoked Deorahva Baba — in whose Ashram near Vindhyachal the meeting was organised — saying that he has requested party leaders to do everything in the nation’s interest. “He has asked us to work towards ‘todo nahin, jodo’,” said Bajpai.

Mocking the grand alliance of non-BJP, non-Congress parties led by JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bajpai questioned their resolve to fight black money and corruption. “These parties are trying to corner the Centre in the name of black money. But why are they behaving like swans on the issue of Yadav Singh? Not a single party in the state has spoken about it. The reason is clear: Chor ki dadhi mein tinka.”

Bajpai questioned the efficacy of the ostensible battle against black money, when leaders like RJD’s Lalu Prasad and INLD’s Om Prakash Chautala are part of the so-called alliance.

Attacking SP and BSP, Bajpai said that it is amazing that a person issued a ‘Red Corner Notice’ was given charge of three authorities. “Earlier, the Lokayukta and the CB-CID had given Yadav Singh a clean chit. If that is true, then how come the Income Tax department detected such huge unexplained property of Singh? It would appear that those reports were not correct,” said Bajpai.

He added that the BSP was actually currently “a refugee of SP” because, while the Lokayukta has indicted several BSP ministers and directed registration of FIR, no further action has been taken by the SP government.

Speaking about the party’s preparations for the 2017 elections, Bajpai told party workers: “In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, we got around 3.46 crore votes. We have to work towards stabilising this base for the party. For this, we will have to ensure our presence in over 1.46 lakh booths in the state.”

The BJP will also contest panchayat elections and the zila panchayat president of Varanasi was elected unopposed. The party will also contest the Cantonment Board elections, Bajpai said.

When asked, UP state In-charge Om Mathur said everybody in the party would get responsibilities for the 2017 elections. On the issue of religious conversion, Mathur said his party’s stand was clear and they would go into the 2017 elections on the agenda of good governance and development.

On the directives of the SIT constituted by the Supreme Court on black money, the IT department had shared information regarding the Yadav Singh’s case with the Enforcement Directorate. A special team was formed to probe the Rs 954-crore tendering scam in which Singh was named. Singh, who was appointed as the engineer-in-chief of Noida Authority during the BSP regime from 2007-12, was suspended when SP came to power, but was later reinstated.