Railgate: JD(U) joins ‘Pawan Kumar Bansal must quit’ Chorus

NEW DELHI: JD(U) has joined the chorus demanding the resignation of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal over the bribery case involving his nephew, aligning its stance with that of its alliance partner, Bharatiya Janata Party.

“Whatever I had said about Bansal was based on the information available with me by then and because of what I have known about him so far. But now, with the kind of reports that are coming in about his relatives being arrested, I feel why he should allow his further condemnation. Bansal should resign,” JD(U) President Sharad Yadav said on Thursday.

Yadav last week appeared to absolve the minister, saying if any relative of a political leader was involved in corruption it could not be assumed to be the fault of that leader. “I have known Pawan Bansal for a long time. He has been in Parliament for a long time. What has he to do with anything if his nephew is taking bribe?” Yadav had asked. Even Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had not insisted on his resignation, saying it was up to Bansal to decide.

JD(U)’s defence of Bansal had given the government a bit of consolation as even the Samajwadi Party, which lends outside suppor t to the UPA, had joined the opposition in stalling passage of the food security bill in Parliament and demanding resignations of Bansal and law minister Ashwani Kumar.

Yadav, while amending his position on the issue, said his demand for Bansal’s resignation did not mean he was of the view that all allegations against him were true. “I am advising him as a friend. Why is he receiving more flak? He should resign,” he said.

The JD(U) leader also attacked the government for not taking any action against Kumar over allegations of vetting CBI’s draft report on the coal scam. “Whom do you (prime minister) want to save?” Yadav asked.

Castigating Congress for “forgetting all ethics and morality”, Yadav rued “in most of the cases, the ministers of the present government are not resigning even after their names emerged in various scams” and cited the resignations by several ministers on smaller charges in past. Yadav said he was completely disappointed with the functioning of the government.