New Delhi: A day after he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sacked BSP leader Babu Singh Kushwaha’s premises were raided by the CBI Wednesday for his alleged involvement in a multi-crore rural health scam, triggering a fresh political row between the Congress and BJP a month ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections.
While the Congress lost no time in attacking the BJP over backing a tainted former minister, the saffron party put up a brave face to ward off criticism, but there were murmurs of discontent within the party over its new member.
The Central Bureau of Investigation carried out raids in 60 places in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
The man in the eye of the storm, Kushwaha, who joined BJP Tuesday with great fanfare, said he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
“BSP and Congress are hand in glove in this conspiracy. I am against this conspiracy and am ready to face any kind of probe. I will be proved innocent,” Kushwaha, a prominent backward caste leader, told television channels.
CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra denied the agency was working under “government directions” to conduct the raids. “It was an open and shut case,” Mishra said. The searches, which the BJP termed as politically motivated, were conducted in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the supply of medicines and medical equipment in the Rs.10,000 crore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam in Uttar Pradesh.
Kushwaha, a prominent OBC leader and once a trusted lieutenant of BSP chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, was removed as family welfare minister in April following his alleged involvement in the embezzlement. He was sacked from the BSP in November.
Justifying Kushwaha’s induction, BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in New Delhi that the timing of the CBI search operation was suspect.
“The BJP is not a shield for corrupt people. But the CBI raids seem motivated. Why did the CBI take so long for carrying out searches,” Naqvi told reporters.
BJP state chief Surya Pratap Shahi, who got Kushwaha into the party said “we will defend our decision” to induct him.
The party however clarified that Kushwaha, charged with criminal misconduct and misuse of office in implementing the scheme, will not be given a ticket for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
But, sources said, the party is split wide open on inducting the tainted minister.
The Congress slammed the BJP for welcoming the tainted politician in its fold for the sake of votes.
In Delhi, CBI sources said many houses and commercial establishments owned by Kushwaha and his associates were searched in 12 districts. (IANS)