By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: The Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Madhya Pradesh’s Health Minister Anoop Mishra resigned on Friday morning after being charged with the allegations that some of his close relatives were involved in the killing of a youth over a land dispute near his home town Gwalior.
State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan forwarded Mishra’s resignation letter to the State Governor Rameshwar Thakur with the recommendation to accept it. The Governor gave his assent to the resignation soon after at about 1 p.m. (IST). Mishra is a nephew of former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
It may be pointed out here that Mishra’s resignation came after his name figured in a controversy when a 17-year-old youth Bhikham Kushwah was killed in Belagaon village on the outskirts of his home town Gwalior on June 23 night following a dispute over the construction of a boundary wall for the IPS college run by his wife.
The brother of the deceased Makhan Kushwah has lodged FIR against 15 persons including Mishra’s son Ashwin Mishra, brothers Abhay and Ajay Mishra and two relatives Deepak Vajpayee and Yogesh Sharma.
Mishra in a statement after putting in his papers said that even though his family had nothing to do with the incident, it was being considered guilty. “This is extremely painful to me. Hence, I am quitting to fight for justice” he said in the statement.
He said he was grieved at the incident in Belagaon village and that he has full sympathy for those affected. He said it had become necessary for him to relieve himself of the responsibility of being a minister and it was important that everything is clean in public life.
It may be mentioned here that Mishra’s resignation is the fall out of free hand given to Chief Minister Chouhan to take action against tainted ministers by Anant Kumar, the national BJP general secretary and in-charge of Madhya Pradesh. Kumar had voiced his views during the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh unit executive committee meeting which concluded in Ratlam town.
The resignation of Mishra is victory of Madhya Pradesh Minister of State for Home Narayan Singh Kushwah, who is leader of the Kushwah community and political rival of Mishra. Ever since Mishra landed n the soup Narayan Singh was exerting pressure on the BJP leadership to take stern action against his bête noire and his expulsion from the ministry.
Meanwhile, on Thursday the Opposition Congress district unit-sponsored “bandh” evoked partial response in Gwalior. The “bandh” was called demanding high-level inquiry into Belagaon firing incident in which one youth was killed and protest against deteriorating law and order situation in the area, reports reaching here said. Petrol pumps, cinema halls, business establishments and few markets remained closed during the bandh.
On the other hand, the members of Kushwah community staged a sit-in and demonstrated demanding arrest of State Health Minister Anoop Mishra and his family members, who were allegedly involved in the firing incident, at Maharajwada locality on Thursday. ([email protected])