UP Elections 2017: After PM's Taunt, Rape-Accused Minister Gayatri Prajapati Not On Stage With Akhilesh Yadav

Amethi: Attacked by Prime Minster Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav campaigned in Amethi today but did not share stage with his party's candidate, state minister Gayatari Prajapati, who has been accused of gangrape and molesting a minor. In his address, Mr Yadav did not name Mr Prajapati and sought votes for the Samajwadi Party.

Mr Prajapati was on stage before Mr Yadav and wept before climbing down and vowing to clear his name. He has accused the BJP of "political vendetta," and told NDTV, "My Chief Minister has confidence in me, that's enough." He also moved the Supreme Court today requesting it to recall a police case against him.

A woman has accused Mr Prajapati and his associates of gangraping her and has also alleged that he attempted to rape her minor daughter. She moved the Supreme Court, she said, after failing to convince the police in UP to register a case on her complaint and the court ordered that a first information report of FIR be registered. The court has also sought a police report within eight weeks.
 Mr Prajapati has earlier been accused of promoting illegal mining and was sacked as minister last year by Akhilesh Yadav over corruption charges, but was reinstated at the insistence of the chief minister's father and then Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Akhilesh Yadav had started his campaign for UP with Mr Prajapati by his side in Sultanpur, adjacent to Amethi, where the minister is the Samajwadi Party candidate and the sitting legislator. Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed to that when he said in strong words at a public rally on Sunday, "Akhilesh ji you started your election campaign by campaigning for Gayatri Prajapati...the people of UP want to know if your SP-Congress alliance is as pure as Gayatri Prajapati."

The highest court had to intervene, the PM said, to have an FIR filed against Mr Prajapati. "Rapists are given a free hand and women have to knock the doors of the Supreme Court for justice - What work have you done Akhilesh ji? Your minister is in a rape case. This is not kaam (work) but kaarnama (deed)."
 Union Minister Smriti Irani called the Samajwadi Party a "protector of rapists".

Months before the assembly elections, Mr Yadav had sacked Mr Prajapati and another minister both seen as close to Mulayam Singh and his younger brother Shivpal Yadav, with whom the young chief minister was locked in an intense power tussle. When he had to re-induct Mr Prajapati within a few days, he stripped him of his mining portfolio.

Gayatri Prajapati is a backward caste leader with substantial following in the region. He had defeated the Congress' Ameeta Singh in 2012 by almost 10,000 votes. The BJP, whose candidate had polled less than 10,000 votes, has fielded Garima Sinh, the first wife if Ameeta Singh's husband Sanjay Singh, a member of Amethi's former royal family.

Amethi votes in the fifth phase of the UP elections, being held on seven days. Votes will be counted on March 11.