Jolt for MP Congress, ex-minister joins BSP

BHOPAL, Jan 2:The Congress in Madhya Pradesh received another jolt, with party MLA from Jatara in Tikamgarh district Akhand Pratap Singh Yad...

BHOPAL, Jan 2:The Congress in Madhya Pradesh received another jolt, with party MLA from Jatara in Tikamgarh district Akhand Pratap Singh Yadav having joined the BSP.

Yadav was Minister of State, Independent charge, for Animal Husbandary and was dismissed from the Council of Ministers by Digvijay Singh on August 1,1996 when he charged the Chief Minister with shielding the corrupt officers in his department.

The BSP, which has already registered an impressive presence in the Vindhya and Chambal regions, has now got a foothold in Bundelkhand also. Yadav, who joined the BSP yesterday in the presence of Kanshi Ram in Delhi, told a press conference here today that he was not resigning from the Assembly. He said that he was prepared to face whatever action the Congress deemed fit to initiate against him.

His fight, he said, was against the feudal forces of exploitation symbolised by Digvijay Singh. He said he had written several times to Congress president Sitaram Kesri that Digvijay Singh was perpetuating exploitation of the SCs, STs and other backward classes but it was all in vain.

Yadav said that Madhya Pradesh’s fodder scam could turn out to be bigger than Bihar’s fodder scam if only a proper investigation was held. In 1982, Digvijay Singh was the Minister for Animal Husbandry and the scam in the department had started at that time and it was continuing till today, he alleged.

On Yadav’s insistence, the matter is at present being investigated by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the State Government.

After Yadav was dismissed from the Council of Ministers, he made several attempts in the subsequent sessions of the Assembly to use his prerogative to make a statement in the House but was never permitted by the Chair.