Mulayam Singh Yadav with Annaa: A long associationThe politician-criminal nexus has long been the bane of Indian politics. But such relationships are normally clandestine. Uttar Pradesh's Mulayam Singh Yadav is however an exception. With typical gung-ho, he refuses to distance himself from friends who have repeatedly been implicated in serious criminal charges.The Meham fiasco may have made politicians wary of dealing with unsavoury associates, but not Yadav. Some of his own senior partymen express the fear that Yadav may wind up becoming another embarrassment for Prime Minister V. P. Singh.If Yadav remains nonchalant about his criminal links (see interview), it is partly because his political career has never suffered because of it. For instance in 1982, when V. P. Singh was Congress(I) chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and Yadav an opposition leader, the state Government ordered a CID investigation into 117 charges which made Yadav out to be a mentor of criminals. Yadav claims he was given a clean chit, but curiously, the inquiry report has disappeared from official records.There is no proof that Yadav has indulged in any criminal activities or that he has been directly used by his controversial friends to influence government decisions. But as Yadav's clout increases, his links with criminals are bound to be raked up by opponents. Some of his controversial associates:Despite Annaa being a category 'A' history sheeter, Yadav attended his son's birthday and three iftars organised by him in recent months. Aran Shukla alias Annaa: The 34-year-old, category 'A' history sheeter of Lucknow, is described in police records as the head of a gang of 10, involved in 79 criminal cases since 1973. All the 10 gang members are on bail.Annaa himself is named in 40 cases of which 27 are under trial. In five he is charged with murder. He has been held under the Gangsters Act and under NSA.Yet Yadav openly flaunts his relationship with Annaa. On March 30, he visited Annaa's residence to participate in his son's birthday celebrations. And in April, during Ramzan, Annaa organised three iftars, all of which were attended by Yadav. Besides, for two months before the general elections, Annaa had camped in Etawah district and campaigned for Yadav, moving around in jeeps with armed thugs.Says Annaa: "I met Mulayam Singh when he was nothing. He supported me when the Government, the police and the Congress were after me. Now, whenever he needs me, I will be there." The relationship is by no means onesided. According to police records, the second-in-command of Annaa's gang is his brother, Kailash Shanker Shukla alias Chottey, whose name appears in 10 cases. Yet, Chottey was given a Janata Dal ticket to contest the local corporation elections in September last year when Yadav was the party's state president.Mulayam Singh Yadav addressing rally organised by Kamlesh Pathak (with beard)At the same time, Annaa's brother-in-law, S. C. Misra, was also given the party ticket. Both won. And in February this year, Misra won the deputy mayor's election in Lucknow.At a press conference last month, the Lucknow SP A. Palniwell had said: "Many of the history sheets in the local police records are wrongly made. History sheets are made when a person is a dacoit or a very serious offender and not in the case of normal criminals." He said this in response to a query on another category 'A' criminal, Shiv Chandra Sahu, who was appointed the Janata Dal's Lucknow unit president in September last year.Sahu, who has been involved in 21 criminal cases - including murder - recently moved an application to close down his history sheet. Judging from the SP'S statement, it is likely that Sahu's slate may soon be wiped clean. Should that happen, many believe it will be followed by withdrawal of cases against Annaa and his gang.Especially since Annaa has all along claimed to be a victim of circumstances, declaring: "You people keep calling me a criminal. All I did was defend myself against the Ram Gopal gang which was backed by the Congress(I). They killed my brother. I had two options - get killed or fight. I decided to fight."Though Pathak too is a category 'A' history sheeter, he recently gained some respectability by becoming a Janata Dal MLC. Kamlesh Pathak: He is an 'A' category history sheeter of Aurraiya who gained respectability by becoming a Janata Dal MLC and with whom Yadav shared the dais at a rally on June 2, where he apologised for Pathak's "mistakes". Says former MLC Abdul Wadood Khan: "I wasn't given a ticket again because people like Pathak had to be adjusted. If the chief minister is bent on criminalising politics what can anybody do?"The 39-year-old Pathak's police record lists 16 cases, including murder. In 1976 Pathak was sentenced for life on a murder charge, but the high court let him off after a year. Pathak has a lot to be grateful to Yadav for. In 1986, he was held under NSA but a representation by Yadav got him released.Even Pathak's henchmen ride high. Police records describe Swami Charan Chowdhry - who has eight cases against him - as Pathak's right hand man. In August last year, Yadav became the Dal's state unit president. The next month, Swami Charan was made Dal vice-president of Aurraiya..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Shivpal Singh: Growing cloutOn March 21, one of Pathak's men, Gauri Shanker Awasthi, stabbed a youth in Aurraiya. That evening, sub-inspector D. K. Sharma raided Awasthi's house with an arrest warrant. According to police records, in retaliation, Swami Charan landed up at the police station, pointed a rifle at Sharma's head and threatened: "If you again put your hands on my men, your head'll be blown off."The Etawah SSP Brij Lal asked the Circle Officer Ram Saran Verma to look into the incident. Consequently on March 31, a case of attempting to murder a police official on duty was lodged against Swami Charan. But two days later, Brij Lal received a telex from the state Home Department, saying: "Suspend inquiries. Case being transferred to CID. "The upshot: to date neither Charan nor Awasthi have been arrested.Another case of murder of a Harijan in village Khanpur - which comes under the Aurraiya police station - was also referred to the CID. Again, Pathak's men were named in the fir. Pathak, of course, claims that, "all this propaganda against me is pure lies. Swami Charan is with us only for the last two years, before which he was with the Congress(I). Most of the cases in my so-called history sheet are false."Shivpal Singh:The display of might by Yadav's relatives has also fuelled controversies. Particularly, the doings of Yadav's youngest brother, the 39-year-old Shivpal Singh. Last September he was made chairman of the Cooperative Bank, Etawah unit. And now his writ runs over the entire district.Yadav's younger brother wields much power. An example of his muscle-flexing: in a Thakur versus Yadav feud, a Thakur was shot dead on April 2 in Etawah town. Four persons, including two aides of Shivpal - Ashok Yadav and Bhure Yadav - were named in the FIR. The Civil Lines Police Station sho Shah Alam arrested one of the accused. Meanwhile, Ashok and Bhure along with 25 others forcibly grabbed some land belonging to a Thakur on April 9. Fearing Thakur-Yadav trouble, Alam arrested 22 persons.The same day, the pradhan of Saifai village - from where the chief minister hails - and Vishram Das, Yadav's uncle, landed up at the thana and began publicly abusing Shah Alam. Alam arrested them as well.According to Alam, Shivpal Singh soon arrived with 200 persons, physically assaulted him, and forcibly freed the arrested men. Alam registered a case against Shivpal. Alam's statement further says that SSP Jagdish Singh Gungesh, acting as the DIG Kanpur range, arrived the same evening and asked him not to name Shivpal in his complaint.When Alam refused, Gungesh blamed the Etawah SSP Brij Lal and lodged counter FIRs. Brij Lal was transferred from Etawah the next week while Gungesh was promoted to DIG. And Alam's case was transferred to the CID. In fact, since January this year, as many as 59 cases from Etawah have been handed over to the CID. Said a senior police official: "This is one effective way of stalling arrests as CID investigations take years."Shivpal Singh expectedly tells a different story. "I did not even touch Alam. The public beat him up because he had beaten up the innocents he'd arrested." Yet, even a Janata Dal worker Rajiv Chaturvedi, says: "Officials of all departments in Etawah are living in fear of Shivpal." And the situation in Etawah is unlikely to change in a hurry. For when Yadav is unconcerned about his links with criminals, he is hardly likely to rein in his brother.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Jun 30, 1990--- ENDS ---
