Next on 145;tainted146; hit list

If Shibhu Soren was the BJP-led NDA8217;s chosen missile to disrupt the first half of the Budget Session of Parliament, Taslimuddin is slat...

If Shibhu Soren was the BJP-led NDA8217;s chosen missile to disrupt the first half of the Budget Session of Parliament, Taslimuddin is slated to play the same stellar role in the Opposition8217;s opera when Parliament resumes session on August 16.

The BJP8217;s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha 8212; Sushma Swaraj 8212; today demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh remove the 8216;8216;tainted minister8217;8217; before August 16 to avoid a replay of the drama enacted over Soren8217;s 8216;8216;absconder8217;8217; status in Parliament last month.

Swaraj was echoing the demand made by BJP vice-president Sushil Modi in Patna today. Modi claimed that the Araria district court in Bihar had issued a warrant for attachment of Taslimuddin8217;s property under the Explosive Substance Act after police did not execute a 8216;8216;non-bailable arrest warrant8217;8217; against him by the same court.

Handing out 8216;8216;certified copies8217;8217; of the court order at a press conference today, Modi said, the warrant to attach the property of Taslimuddin 8212; currently Union MoS for Civil Supplies 8212; dates back to March 9, 2000, after the arrest warrant dated August 23, 1999, was not executed.

Modi has also faxed the copies to Rajya Sabha chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. Although the warrants are over four years old, the BJP has dug up the case and is set to make it a big issue in Parliament. There are other, more serious cases, against Taslimuddin, but the party will focus on this one as it allegedly led to a non-bailable arrest warrant.

Swaraj said the latest information from Patna only confirmed that the Opposition8217;s campaign against 8216;8216;tainted ministers8217;8217; had a lot of substance and the UPA Government should not have inducted the ministers in the first place.

BJP sources said Taslimuddin would be an even better target than Shibhu Soren because unlike Soren 8212; who was involved in a mass agitation and still enjoy widespread support among his own tribal kinsmen 8212; Taslimuddin8217;s cases are 8216;8216;purely criminal8217;8217; in nature.

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Moreover, in the days of the United Front rule, then PM H.D. Deve Gowda dropped him from his cabinet in view of the pending criminal cases against him. At that time, the Left parties too had wanted his removal.

If the Left changes its tune now, it will provide only more ammunition to the BJP to 8216;8216;expose the double standards8217;8217; of the Left, sources said.