In a decision that is likely to open a can of worms for the ruling BJP, health minister Anoop Mishra, nephew of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has resigned on moral grounds following a police case against his son and brothers.
The resignation comes a couple of days after the party at its state executive meet in Ratlam hinted that it might crack the whip against tainted ministers and legislators. Relatives of Mishra, an MLA from Gwalior (East), were involved in a land dispute in Bela village near Gwalior last week that led to the death of a person in firing. On a complaint from relatives of the victim, the police booked Mishra?s son and brothers.
Though the minister was away in Ujjain when the incident took place, the complainants had alleged that the accused had his backing. Mishra even claimed that none of his family members was around when the firing took place.
Mishra did not exactly get along well with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan throughout his career as a minister. Mishra was one of the contenders for the top post himself when the party high command replaced former chief minister Babulal Gaur with Chouhan in late 2005.
At Ratlam, BJP national general secretary and in-charge of MP Anant Kumar publicly authorised Chouhan to act against tainted legislators and ministers in an attempt to boost the party?s image. ?The CM is free to act against the tainted, the high command backs him.?
Even new state BJP president Prabhat Jha, who belongs to Gwalior region, gave the impression that the party was in a mood to act against tainted leaders. ?Our policy is that the innocents are not punished and the guilty are not spared,?? he said.
Parliamentary affairs minister and government spokesman Narottam Mishra said the health minister was not asked to put in his papers but resigned on his own. His resignation was quickly accepted.If the party were to follow Kumar?s advice there would be several vacancies in the Cabinet because cases of corruption are pending against many ministers with the Lok Ayukta.
Energy minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, the virtual No 2 in the Cabinet, is under a cloud for his involvement in an alleged illegal land deal worth Rs 100 crore in Indore.
Former minister Kamal Patel, now a legislator, is in jail for allegedly helping his son destroy evidence related to the death of a youth in Harda two years ago. The CBI arrested Patel from his Bhopal bungalow on May 20; since then he is behind bars with the courts refusing to grant him bail.
Mishra?s resignation will fuel demands for action against the rest, especially Vijayvargiya, a powerful leader from Indore region.
Tainted ministers in the previous BJP government who were shown the door made a comeback in the present regime in the last reshuffle.