The Hindu : Resentment in U.P. Cong over MLA's arrest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 07, 2002

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Resentment in U.P. Cong over MLA's arrest

By J.P. Shukla

LUCKNOW SEPT. 6. Difference in perceptions of Congress leaders in New Delhi and Lucknow over support to the Uttar Pradesh legislator from Rae Bareli, Akhilesh Singh, who is an accused in a murder case, has raised serious questions about the decision-making process in the party. While the national leadership of the party ultimately decided to expel the MLA following his arrest on Monday last, almost its entire legislature wing in Uttar Pradesh had been pleading for the past one month that Akhilesh Singh was innocent and had been falsely implicated by the Rae Bareli police.

The leader of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Legislature Party, Pramod Tiwari, had launched a full-fledged political campaign against the police move to arrest Mr. Singh. The MLA had been evading arrest. He had been declared an absconder and the police had announced a reward on his head. While he eluded the police, Mr. Tiwari and other Congress leaders kept on demanding both inside and outside the Assembly that the case be handed over to the CID. Congress MLAs, led by Mr. Tiwari, raised the issue in the Assembly disrupting the proceedings of the House repeatedly but the Chief Minister, Mayawati, refused to be pressured. The MLA then made a sudden appearance in the House to personally urge the Speaker to accept his surrender. The party leaders once again stalled his arrest. The Speaker, however, refused to oblige. Even while he was being taken away by the police, senior Congress leaders followed the MLA to the gates of the State Secretariat to express their "solidarity'' with him.

The Uttar Pradesh Congress President, Arun Kumar Singh "Munna'' in his reaction described the arrest of Akhilesh Singh as political vendetta.

In this background, the expulsion of Akhilesh Singh from the primary membership of the party for six years announced two days later in New Delhi by Motilal Vora, in-charge of Congress affairs in Uttar Pradesh, appeared surprising. Mr. Vora simultaneously directed the U.P. Congress president to take necessary action to implement the High Command decision.

What was the reason for the U.P. Congress leaders to stand behind Akhilesh Singh whose police records were well known to everyone? Was it necessary for senior State leaders to vouchsafe the innocence of the MLA? These were some of the questions worrying the rank and file of the party. What further puts in doubt the propriety of the approach of the State Congress leaders was the fact that the victim of the murder was also an important Congress person from Rae Bareli. It was the family of the deceased which had named Akhilesh Singh as an accused.

The alleged killers who had been arrested were further stated to have admitted that they had committed the crime at the behest of Akhilesh Singh. Apprehensions expressed in advance by the victim that the MLA might attempt to kill him had also been reported in the press.

As if taking a cue from the State party leadership, important district level Congress leaders at Rae Bareli resigned in protest against the expulsion of the MLA. They also organised a general strike at Rae Bareli yesterday which evoked a partial response.

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Resentment in U.P. Cong over MLA's arrest