Facing gang rape charges, Prajapati goes on mission reconciliation

AMETHI: Every outsider is seen with suspicion at the Amethi residence of UP minister Gayatri Prajapati.

With the minister rumoured to have gone underground fearing police arrest in an alleged gangrape case, a meeting with him seems impossible.

His son, Anil, surrounded by a horde of party workers and followers, instructs them on how to target specific castes in specific localities.

A request for appointment is turned down with a curt “No”. On insistence, Anil asks several questions and then gives the phone number of an aide of the minister who in turn does another round of grilling.

After convincing him, comes a half-an-hour drive on dusty roads to the house of Mishrauli Bargaon village pradhan, Ramkrishna Yadav.

Dismissing the charges as a conspiracy by BJP, the minister said he had filed an application in the SC to present his side.

“Since BJP is not able to win the seat and I am working for at least 17 weaker section castes assigned to me by my party, they implicated me under false charges to ruin my political career. But I will continue to fight against the feudal forces,” he said.

Prajapati is now on a ‘Mission Reconciliation’ to placate those upset with him . He hit headlines when chief minister Akhilesh Yadav dropped him and another minister on corruption charges last September amid a feud with uncle Shivpal Yadav, but the CM had to re-induct him into the cabinet apparently afterhis fatherMulayamSingh Yadav exerted pressure.

Prajapati maintained that for him there was no difference between Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh.

“Netaji (Mulayam) is Lord Shiva and Akhilesh Yadav is Lord Ganesha,” Prajapati said.