Deja vu for Tripathi, big surprise for Opp

While Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati may have bowed to pressure and removed controversial Stamps and Stationary Minister Amar Mani Tr...

While Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati may have bowed to pressure and removed controversial Stamps and Stationary Minister Amar Mani Tripathi for his name cropping up in connection with the murder of poet Madhumita Shukla, the sequence of events is nothing new for the minister.

Tripathi has earlier also been sacked and jailed following charges of harbouring a group of kidnappers in then Rajnath Singh government.

This time round, however, the CM has removed him from his post for a month only till the probe is completed. ‘‘During the one month period when the CB-CID will complete their inquiry into his alleged role in the murder, he will not remain a minister. And he will be expelled from the party and the ministership if found guilty during the probe,’’ said Mayawati while talking to mediapersons at her residence this morning. Simultaneously, Lucknow SSP Anil Agarwal has also been removed. Sources said Agarwal is paying the price of bringing Madhumita’s body back so that the foetus could be removed for DNA tests.

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Mayawati claimed she had not succumbed to any pressure in announcing a probe against her party legislator but because her government would never spare the guilty regardless of their status, caste or creed.

‘‘The Opposition couldn’t find an issue to pin me down so they make a hue and cry over this murder. The family of the deceased requested for a CB-CID probe and I also thought there should be a free and fair inquiry,’’ she said.

Even as Tripathi remained unperturbed and claimed: ‘‘I will be given a clean chit and will be taken back into the ministry. I am ready for a CBI probe into the issue because I know I am not guilty,’’ the Opposition is obviously reading between the lines.

‘‘This is a belated decision. The minister will be declared not guilty and reinducted into the ministry the signs of which were clear from day one when the inquiry wasn’t initiated but the alleged accused has claimed that he would be back in the ministry,’’ said chief Congress spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh. ‘‘This is a cover-up exercise on part of the CM who was buckled under the pressure on her government,’’ claimed Leader of Opposition Azam Khan.

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Mayawati’s coalition partner BJP has welcomed her decision. ‘‘The decision for an impartial inquiry will send out the right signals across the state that the guilty will not be spared,’’ said state BJP chief Vinay Katiyar.

In Delhi, the Samajwadi Party described Tripathi’s removal as a ‘‘drama’’ and alleged the Mayawati government was ‘‘trying to frame us’’ in the case. ‘‘I can announce today that Tripathi will be re-instated into the Cabinet soon,’’ Singh said.