While Bihar’s new Minister of Education, Mewa Lal Choudhary, continues to be attacked on charges of corruption during his tenure as Vice Chancellor of Bihar University of Agriculture, Sabour, which had led him to file an FIR against him and the subsequent JD (U) suspension; He is not the only stain in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet.
According to the latest study by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Election Watch, which was released on Wednesday after analysis of the affidavits of the 14 sworn ministers in Nitish’s cabinet, eight (57%) have declared criminal cases. , including six. (43%) with serious criminal cases declared against them.
The list of eight includes four from BJP, two from JD (U), and one each from HAM-S and VIP. Yet it is Choudhary’s induction into the cabinet that has caused an uproar. In 2017, after the FIR was filed against Choudhary, Nitish Kumar had refused to even meet with him.
Choudhary, whose name appeared in the BAU recruitment scam and an FIR was filed against him on the order of Raj Bhawan in a case involving the appointment of 161 assistant professors and young scientists, is the richest of all with declared assets of Rs 12.31 crore. The average asset of the 14 ministers analyzed is 3.93 million rupees.
Choudhary himself has declared one criminal case and four serious cases against him under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Minister of Livestock and Fisheries, Mukesh Sahni, has declared five criminal cases and three cases of a serious nature under the IPC. BJP’s Jibesh Kumar has also declared five criminal cases and four cases of a serious nature under the IPC. There are five others who have self-declared criminal cases of various kinds against him.
Former Chief Deputy Minister Sushil Kuamr Modi was among those who submitted petitions against Choudhary to the governor in 2017 highlighting irregularities in the appointment process. Modi had said at the time that he could conclude that the selection process was totally arbitrary after speaking with several candidates.
RJD MP and party spokesman Manoj Jha said the election of Mewa Lal Choudhary as Education Minister was a sufficient indication of the weakened position of the CM and why Bihar lost after the election results. “He can no longer take a high moral base, which he cited as the reason for leaving the Grand Alliance (GA) in 2017. It will surely be a great embarrassment to the government in Vidhan Sabha,” he added.
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RJD leader Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav tweeted, “An accused of absconding in a corruption case has been appointed Minister of Education.” “However, Nitish Kumar’s speech on crime, corruption and communalism will continue,” he added.
A previous analysis by ADR & Election Watch had found that 163 (68%) of the 241 newly elected leaders from all parties had declared criminal cases. This is higher than last time. Of the 243 MLAs analyzed during the Bihar Assembly elections in 2015, 142 (58%) had declared criminal cases against them. Of that total, 123 (51%) MLA declared serious criminal cases this year, compared to 98 five years ago, according to the report.
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This year, 19 candidates have declared murder cases against them, while 31 reported cases of attempted murder and eight reported cases of crimes against women.
With a large number of corrupt candidates winning the elections again, showing compliance with the Electoral Commission (EC) guidelines in light of the Supreme Court’s order to curb that trend remains a distant dream.
The EC directive had sought greater responsibility for political parties to control the problem of criminalization of politics.
“This is dangerous. It is akin to insulting the mandate. A person facing such serious charges should not be appointed a minister. Worse, he has been appointed Minister of Education. Nitish Kumar is responsible for making such a horrible decision. How can a man deal with higher education, which is in tatters and needed a man of integrity to get out of the rut? ”asked NK Choudhary, social analyst and former head of the department of economics at Patna University.
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