Mulayam’s expelled MP cousin breaks down over graft charges
lucknow — Expelled Samajwadi Party national General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav on Monday broke down during a press conference as he called the charges of graft levelled against him painful.
A cousin of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, he said it was deeply saddening that charges of graft were made against him.
“I am very much part of the party, because I drafted the constitution of the party, selected its symbol and have dedicated my life to it,” said the Rajya Sabha MP.
He also said that he never aspired to be a minister and added that had he wanted to be, during the US-India deal, he could have easily become one in the Manmohan Singh government.
Ram Gopal Yadav also demanded that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav be given a free hand in selecting candidates for the 2017 state assembly polls and that he also be projected the chief ministerial face of the party. Sitting with the party symbol in the backdrop, he also said that many veterans, legislators and MPs also wanted the same.
Attacking estranged cousin and state SP chief Shivpal Singh Yadav indirectly, the RS member said people were dictatorially distributing tickets in the party. Announcing that he would write a bare all book soon, Ram Gopal Yadav also said that he will not go and meet Mulayam Singh.
He was expelled from the party for six years last month after he openly sided with Akhilesh and released letters written to Mulayam Yadav.
Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) last week accused Uttar Pradesh Transport Minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati of corruption.
AAP state spokesman Vaibhav Maheshwari said that since Rs500 and Rs1,000 were declared illegal tender on Tuesday, with a 72-hour window when they can be used in select areas, the earnings of UP Roadways buses were shown in these two denominations.
“While earlier the earnings were deposited in a private bank in lower denominations, now this is done in 500 and 1,000 notes,” he said and asked the union finance ministry to probe the issue.
“The AAP demands a CBI probe into the matter and the arrest of Prajapati,” the AAP leader said. —