Banwari Lal Kushwaha’s luck seems to have run out after being elected as an MLA from Dholpur in Rajasthan. Unable to get a BJP ticket in Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Kushwaha hit the jackpot with the BSP, unseating the incumbent Abdul Sageer Khan of the BJP.
A relative of BJP MLA and former MP minister Narayan Kushwaha, Banwari Lal hasn’t been able to take his oath as an MLA due to the Gwalior Police which on the prowl for him across the river Chambal. He is accused of chit fund fraud in Gwalior, for an amount so small that he is now the butt of jokes in the Chambal valley.
“He is wanted in case of chit fund fraud. He and his relatives were running a chit fund through their company Garima Real Estate. They had collected about Rs. 20,000 after which a complaint was filed. Four of his associates have been arrested and we sent a team to arrest him two days back during the oath taking ceremony in Jaipur,” Inspector General of Police (Gwalior) Adarsh Katiyar told this paper.
In the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday and Wednesday, police checked vehicles, including vehicles of journalists, and their trunks but Mr. Banwari was not be found. “If we don’t find him in two weeks we will attach his properties in Dholpur,” Mr. Katiyar added.
Rumours have spread in the region spanning Rajasthan, MP and Uttar Pradesh that a reward of Rs. 2000 is on Mr. Banwari’s head. He has earned the sobriquets do-taka-Banwari and Banwari bees due to the rumour and the amount listed in the chit fund case.
Controversy isn’t a stranger to the Kushwahas. Mr. Banwari is also related to former UP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, who’s firm Agroha Savings is accused of money laundering. Mr. Banwari was a shareholder in the company. His connections seem to have concealed him from the police of three states, but the jokes will continue to haunt him even if he makes it to the Vidhan Sabha in Jaipur.
(with inputs from Mahim P. Singh in Jaipur)
