LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday called Yogi Adityanath a ‘weak’ chief minister and said he must resign ‘today’ itself over the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) ‘scam’ in which the corporation employees’ provident fund was invested in the scam-tainted private housing finance company DHFCL.
He demanded a judicial probe into the UPPCL irregularities by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or the high court.
Speaking at a press conference here, Akhilesh said: “CM Yogi Adityanath is responsible for the scam. He must resign today. He must resign today before he goes to inaugurate the Samajwadi Party-initiated Medanta hospital project in Lucknow.”
The SP chief expressed doubt over the government’s intention of CBI probe and, therefore, demanded a judicial probe.
“The government was rattled. It intends to suppress facts. So, overnight, by pulling the officers concerned out of their beds, the government got formalities completed for a CBI probe by the morning. The government was scared of the opposition attack the next morning. But, we demand a probe by a sitting judge of the SC or HC.”
Responding to the BJP government’s allegations that the scam was of the previous Samajwadi Party government, Akhilesh said: “It’s clear from the FIR that the government filed in the case that all transactions were done when the SP government was not there. Not even a penny of the employees’ PF was given to DHFCL during the SP government’s regime.”
{{/usCountry}}Responding to the BJP government’s allegations that the scam was of the previous Samajwadi Party government, Akhilesh said: “It’s clear from the FIR that the government filed in the case that all transactions were done when the SP government was not there. Not even a penny of the employees’ PF was given to DHFCL during the SP government’s regime.”
{{/usCountry}}Asked about the police taking into custody AP Misra, who was the managing director of UPPCL during Akhilesh’s tenure as chief minister, the SP chief said: “Then which government the two officers who were arrested two days ago were were associated. Some officers -- at the UPPCL board meeting -- had objected to the proposal of investment of the money into DHFL, but the government overruled the objections.”
Akhilesh further said: “You people used to say that there were five chief ministers in the Samajwadi Party government. Now, tell how many chief ministers are there in UP. This CM is weak. He wants to sack the power minister, but is not capable to do so.”
When asked about the environmental pollution vis-a-vis smog these days, Akhilesh said: “It’s time for us to eradicate this pollution -- the political pollution – first.”