Correspondence not interference: UP Governor

Utar Pradesh Governor T V Rajeshwar, accused of targetting Mulayam Singh Yadav and siding with the Congress and BJP, today took the battle f...

Utar Pradesh Governor T V Rajeshwar, accused of targetting Mulayam Singh Yadav and siding with the Congress and BJP, today took the battle further into the state government camp by going public on allegations of interference against him.

Not only did the Governor seek to pin down the Chief Minister on allowing independent MLA Mukhtar Ansari a free run during the Mau violence, he said he had sounded the CM on being tipped off by BJP leaders Kalyan Singh and Kesri Nath Tripathi.

‘‘On October 14, I received a call from Tripathi and Kalyan Singh in Delhi that Mau was burning and Ansari was moving around, after which I rang up the CM and told him Ansari should be immediately ousted from Mau,’’ Rajeshwar told reporters today. ‘‘On October 15, after seeing the MLA’s visuals, I sent a message to the CM that in view of the allegations of BJP leaders, Ansari should be asked to leave Mau.’’

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Referring to Jitendra Yadav’s FIR against Ansari pertaining to the murder of his brother (Yadav later issued a retraction), Rajeshwar said if the case had been registered, Ansari should have been arrested. Yadav had met the CM before turning hostile last week.

The Governor had called the press meet to set the record straight on a few letters that he had written to the CM and which were aired by a private TV channel last night. The Governor said the news item had been blown out of proportion and added that correspondence with the CM did not amount to interfering in the state’s affairs.

‘‘The Governor’s job is to advise the government on whatever he thinks is necessary and his actions are governed by Article 163 (1) and (2) of the Constitution,’’ he said.