UP revenue minister Vinod Singh was forced to resign on Friday for his alleged involvement in the abduction of Gonda chief medical officer (CMO) SP Singh, who has since been rescued.
Though Singh maintained he had resigned on moral grounds, official sources said the pressure came from chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who had decided to relieve the minister after health minister Ahmad Hasan submitted a report on the issue.
The move was also meant to act as a warning to the ministers and leaders of the SP. The issue of ministers' misconduct had come up for discussion at the party's national executive committee meeting in Kolkata last month.
Later in the day, party chief Mulayam Singh drove the message across in no ambiguous terms: the government and its ministers must conduct themselves properly if the party has to do well in the 2014 elections. "Each minister is under my scanner. Nothing is hidden from me," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Later in the day, party chief Mulayam Singh drove the message across in no ambiguous terms: the government and its ministers must conduct themselves properly if the party has to do well in the 2014 elections. "Each minister is under my scanner. Nothing is hidden from me," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Singh and his supporters had allegedly abducted the CMO after he refused to include his nominees in the list of contractual doctors. But the former minister said he had become a victim of a conspiracy, as he had objected to the "rampant corruption" in the appointment of contractual doctors.
Further action - including an FIR against Singh and his supporters - cannot be ruled out. But state home secretary home Kamal Saxena and IG (law and order) BP Singh said so far no complaint had been received from the CMO or his family.