Opinion Probe ‘graft’,don’t go after memorials
Should Lokayukta N K Mehrotra's recommendation of an probe against two former BSP ministers,Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Babu Singh Kushwaha
Should Lokayukta N K Mehrotras recommendation of an probe against two former BSP ministers,Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Babu Singh Kushwaha,and more than a hundred officials of Rajkiya Nirman Nigam and Mining Department in the construction of Mayawatis memorials be accepted,it could become the biggest anti-corruption move in the history of UP. The Lokayukta also wants the Rs 1,410 crore allegedly siphoned off in the construction of the memorials to be seized from the guilty.
The report,however,also raises troublesome questions for the Samajwadi Party. The SP,especially Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,had continuously targeted the BSP regime for corruption,especially in the building of the memorials,during the poll campaign. Akhilesh had even promised to get these demolished.
But,after forming the government in March 2012,it did not take action on alleged corruption during the BSP regime. The other probes,into the NRHM scam and allegations of corruption against ministers,were court-ordered or on the basis of complaints filed by individuals. Even its promise of a panel to probe all cases of corruption was soon forgotten.
It was after questions were raised in the Assembly and media that it asked Lokayukta to probe anomalies in the supply of sandstone for memorials and parks,then the alleged irregularities in the allotment of farmhouses in Noida and into sale of state-owned sugar mills. Last month,the Lokayukta wrote to Governor B L Joshi criticising the states agencies for tardy investigation against about a dozen former ministers indicted by him. He also raised the issue of strengthening the Lokayukta,like in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh,one of the promises by the SP that remains unfulfilled.
In his report,Lokayukta has sought probe by an independent agency and said that the inquiry must be completed within six months and trial be held in special courts.
What is clear is that the SP government cant keep sitting on the probe recommendations,be it the memorials,the farmhouses or the sugar mills, particularly as the Lok Sabha elections draw near. The announcement that it would convert Mayawatis memorials into marriage houses may just be the kind of grandstanding that draws eyeballs at a far lesser effort.
Ramendra is a correspondent based in Lucknow
ramendra.singh @expressindia.com
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