Amar Singh defends Raja Bhaiya's inclusion in Cabinet

LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party on Saturday defended the re-induction of controversial Independent MLA and POTA accused Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya in the state Cabinet saying that there were several ministers at the Centre with similar antecedents.

"We are only following on the footsteps of honourable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had ministers like Laloo Prasad Yadav, Shibu Soren and Taslimuddin," SP General Secretary Amar Singh retorted when asked about Raja Bhaiya's re-induction into the Cabinet despite there being a case under POTA pending against him in a Jabalpur court.

Singh also alleged that the recent order of Delhi government to Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav for vacating his Krishna Menon road residence, phone tappings and the PIL against Yadav were all part of the Centre's "anti-Mulayam and anti-SP conspiracy."

Referring to the Delhi High Court's order restraining the state government from inquiring into the phone tapping case, Singh said "the fact that the Delhi police and the accused both were against an inquiry by the state government vindicated our allegation that Delhi police was also involved in the conspiracy."

He claimed that the Centre was also tapping phones of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha's chartered accountant.