Lucknow:
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has promised that no minister in his Cabinet accused of wrongdoing will be spared, but Raja Bhaiya, his food and civil supplies minister till Monday last, has not even been questioned yet in the brutal death of a senior policeman, though he is named in the police FIR.
Talking to NDTV, Mr Yadav denied that his government had tried to shield Raja Bhaiya or Raghubir Pratap Singh, an Independent MLA and local strongman from Kunda. "When his name was taken in the FIR, we asked Raja Bhaiya to resign the very same day. He resigned and we didn't even take a second in accepting his resignation," Mr Yadav pointed out, saying that the opposition is trying to politicise the issue.
Raja Bhaiyya has been charged with criminal conspiracy in the case; he is accused of ordering the murder of Deputy Superintendent of Police Zia ul Haque on Saturday night in a village in his Lok Sabha constituency Kunda.
For the 39-year-old Mr Yadav, there has been no time or occasion to celebrate his first year as Chief Minister yet. The Samajwadi Party government in the state completes its first anniversary on March 15, and Mr Yadav has been unable to fulfill one of his main campaign promises - to rid his home state of "goonda raj" or lawlessness.
He said after visiting Kunda yesterday that he is working on improving safety and security in the state, and will not ignore complaints against his affiliates. "Whichever minister has been involved in wrongdoing, we will definitely order an enquiry," he said.
Mr Yadav is under tremendous pressure to act. The senior cop's murder has rocked Parliament this week and Mayawati, who heads UP's main opposition party, the BSP, has demanded that President's Rule be imposed in the state because of what she calls a total breakdown of law and order.
Mr Haq was killed when he arrived in Ballipur village to investigate the murder of the village headman or pradhan and his brother, who had been killed over a land dispute. The post mortem report says the policeman was severely beaten and dragged before being shot dead.
Two of the four men suspected of killing him have yet to be found.