Lucknow, November 10
Responding to the Supreme Court’s reversal of the state government order withdrawing POTA charges against him, the controversial Independent MLA from Pratapgarh, Kunwar Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiya, held that perhaps his case had not been pleaded well.

In a severe indictment of the state government, the Supreme Court today not only quashed the state government order removing POTA charges against the minister, it also decided to transfer the case to the POTA court in Madhya Pradesh, saying that the case would continue under the relevant Sections of the POTA, Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act.

The other accused in the case are Raja Bhaiya’s father and the present Raja of Bhadri, Udai Pratap Singh, and his cousin Akshay Pratap Singh, alias Gopalji, a Samjawadi MLC. The order was passed on the petition of Mr S.K. Shukla who had pleaded to look into the Mulayam Singh Yadav government decision to withdraw POTA.

Speaking to the press before tendering his resignation as Food and Civil Supplies Minister in Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Cabinet, Raja Bhaiya, however, said he did not have a “guilty conscience” and would fully respect the Supreme Court order and surrender before the designated court in Kanpur within a week.

In a brief seven-lined resignation letter addressed to the Chief Minister, Raja Bhaiya has asserted that he is resigning to uphold the democratic values espoused by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government. “We have carried out a long struggle for the restoration of democracy in the state. That is why I do not want to do anything which will tarnish the image of the government”.

Raja Bhaiya, who had won the Pratapgarh Assembly seat in three consecutive elections, was held under POTA by the BJP-supported Mayawati government in January, 2003. During the police raids in his palace, an AK-56 and many unauthorised arms as well as a human skeleton were seized.

Calling it a political conspiracy and vendetta on the part of a disgruntled Mayawati, Raja Bhaiya today, as well as on an earlier occasion, maintained that the arms had been planted to implicate him.

Raja Bhaiya, backed by BJP’s Rajnath Singh, was then largely seen as a symbol of Rajput assertion in UP politics. He was instrumental in the Rajput MLAs from the BJP raising their head against the Mayawati regime.

Earlier in October 1997, he along with Mr Rajnath Singh had weaned away the Rajput MLAs from both the Congress and BSP overnight to form two parties – the Jantantrik BSP and Loktantrik Congress — which had reinstalled the Kalyan Singh government Singh government after a bloody Vidhan Sabha session.

At present, he along with Amar Singh are considered responsible for the realigning of the Rajputs with the Samajwadi Party.

UP Congress Committee Legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari asserted that the apex court decision was more a stricture against the Mulayam Singh Yadav government than an individual minister.