UP polls 2017: I am not in the race for CM's post, says Manoj Sinha

Ballia: Union Minister Manoj Singh on Sunday said he is not in the race for chief ministership in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP has not projected any leader for the top post.

"I am not in the race," he said at an election rally here.

57-year-old Sinha is the Telecom Minister and MP from Ghazipur in Poorvanchal.

Of the states that have gone to polls in the last 30 months, BJP had not announced its CM candidate in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

Not naming a chief ministerial candidate has its own advantage as it keeps all contenders and their supporters interested, according to observers.

Sinha said the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has effectively removed the word "corruption" from the dictions of work culture.

"Modi government has removed the word corruption from the working culture of government departments. And today even the most vocal opponents of the Modi government cannot level any allegation of corruption," he said.

He claimed that after the announcement of demonetisation, a truck "full of posters or currency notes" was sent from the BSP headquarters here. "This would be probed, and the guilty persons would be punished," he said.

In a jibe at Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, he said, "Instead of 'kaam bolta hai' (performance speaks), it should be 'bhrashtachar, apraadh aur kaarnama bolta hai' (corruption, crime and misdeed speak)."