By TCN Staff Reporter,
Patna: Criminal background of ministers, it seems, is creating endless trouble and bringing shame for Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar. A few days back, Bihar Cooperative Minister and BJP leader Ramadhar Singh, an absconder in a communal case, had to resign due to pressure from opposition and media. Now it is Urban Development Minister Prem Kumar, who was declared absconder by a court 15 years ago.
Demanding Prem Kumar’s ouster from Nitish cabinet, Bihar Lok Janshakti Party president Pashupati Kumar Paras said that Prem Kumar was declared an absconder by the then chief judicial magistrate of a Gaya court on March 23, 1996 in connection with a case registered against him at Kotwali police station for leading a violent mob that attacked the police station.
Prem Kumar
“The minister has not only been absconding from the clutches of the law in connection with the case lodged against him, but is also guilty of suppression of the case status in the affidavit submitted by him to the Election Commission to contest from Gaya town assembly in 2010 assembly election” Paras has been quoted as saying.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Paras demanded that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should sack the BJP MLA and minister Prem Kumar without further delay as charges against him were grave in nature.
He also said that an LJP delegation would approach the Election Commission to demand the termination of Kumar’s membership of the assembly.
It should be noted that ex-Co-operative Minister Ramadhar Singh is an accused in a case lodged against him for delivering inflammatory speech during nationwide communal violence that erupted after the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. Mr. Singh, who is four-time BJP MLA from Aurangabad Assembly constituency, was declared absconder in 1995 in the case after he failed to appear in the court despite several notices.
Ramadhar Singh
After being pressurized from media and opposition, Singh resigned from ministership on 19th May. Later he surrendered before a court in Aurangabad district and now is on 14-day judicial custody.
Both the alleged absconder ministers are BJP MLA–Ramadhar Singh is representing Aurangabad Assembly constituency while Prem Kumar representing Gaya Town assembly constituency.
Interestingly, both the ministers did not only hide the status of ‘absconder’ in cases against them while filing nomination papers before Election Commission, they did not bother to mention even the cases.