Mulayam won't expel tainted minister

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has refused to expel minister Mehboob Ali, who was exposed as drug trafficker in a CNN-IBN-DIG investigation.

He, however, has decided to order a probe by UP Speaker.

Mulayam Singh defended Ali despite demands by Opposition MLAs that the minister be asked to step down.

Mulayam has asked the Assembly Speaker to form a committe to probe the expose.

However, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Mulayam Singh Yadav's act of defiance in favor of Mehboob Ali is a shameless act."

Meanwhile the BSP, whose MLA was exposed by CNN-IBN, has demanded a law against journalists doing sting operations.

In another development, Rashtriya Lok Dal, a key ally of the Samajwadi party, has demanded that Ali and the BJP and BSP MLAs exposed in the sting operation should be expelled from the assembly.

Earlier under heavy pressure from all quarters, Samajwadi Party MP Shahid Siddiqui had said on CNN-IBN's Face the Nation programme that Ali should resign on his own, or else he could be sacked from the Cabinet.

"He should have resigned on his own. But he hasn't done that. Mulayam Singh had not seen the programme on Wednesday. He saw it only on Thursday. I'm sure action will be taken. He will be thrown out of the Cabinet," Siddiqui said.

Meanwhile, in what looked like confirmation of the CNN-IBN expose of rampant corruption in UP politics, the Allahabad High Court issued a notice against some MPs, MLAs and MLCs in UP on Thursday, giving them four weeks time to reply to charges of criminal records.

The High Court has also sent a notice to the Election Commission of India, the Centre and the UP government.

The court issued the notice on the basis of a PIL filed by Om Datt Singh in Allahabad on February 14.

A bulletin published by Transparency India claimed that several politicians in UP hid their criminal background during election.

Some of the names include Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayavati and Raj Babbar.

"Our main focus is to oust criminals from the arena of politics for a free and fair election and for a healthy democracy," says KK Roy, counsel for the petitioner.