Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui has come under scanner for shielding the prime accused in a murder case, reports claimed on Monday.
The family members of the deceased, who was murdered in 2010, have accused the powerful BSP MLA of using his influence to save the man accused of committing the crime.
However, the PWD minister has categorically denied allegations against him saying, “All charges against me are baseless and politically motivated”.
Siddiqui emerged as a power centre in Uttar Pradesh following the exit of Babu Singh Kushwaha from the Mayawati government over the murder of Lucknow’s Chief Medical Officer B P Singh.
In the government and the ruling BSP both, Siddiqui is said to command a clout next only to Chief Minister Mayawati.
He currently holds 12 portfolios including PWD, Cooperative, Health and Family Welfare, Excise, Housing and Irrigation. Only Mayawati holds more portfolios than him.
As BSP general secretary, Siddiqui heads the caste panels which the party calls Bhaichara committees and which are Mayawati’s political tool for her much-vaunted social engineering.
Siddiqui is also personally responsible for toning up the party machinery and the selection of candidates in 92 reserved constituencies of UP for the 2012 Assembly elections. No other BSP general secretary has that kind of charge.
First Published: Monday, May 30, 2011, 15:33