L'affaire Amarmani

Published : Oct 24, 2003 00:00 IST

A MONTH in office and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is already reaping what he sowed in haste. One decision he regrets is the induction of former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Minister Amarmani Tripathi, who is now in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation facing murder charges, into his party on the eve of the vote of confidence in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on September 8. Tripathi, whose involvement in criminal activities is part of official records in Uttar Pradesh, joined the Samajwadi Party (S.P.), along with 39 other BSP legislators, enabling Mulayam Singh Yadav to win the vote of confidence in the 402-member House with a majority of 90 votes.

The arrest of Tripathi, who is accused of murdering poetess Madhumita Shukla with whom he allegedly had an affair, has put Mulayam Singh Yadav on the horns of a dilemma: whether to retain Tripathi in the S.P. or expel him. Tripathi's expulsion would not affect Mulayam Singh Yadav's majority in the House. Yet, the Chief Minister is hesitant to act. Mulayam Singh Yadav told Frontline: "How can I throw him out when he helped me at a time when I needed his help most?" He admitted that political compulsions had forced him to accept help from all quarters to prove his majority. He, however, said that the law would take its course. "Let me make it clear that I will not try to protect him in any manner whatsoever. He will have to face the law like anybody else. There will be no interference from me."

Mulayam Singh Yadav may have to pay a heavy price for not taking action against Tripathi at this juncture. The Congress (I), which is supporting the government from outside, has expressed its displeasure at the Chief Minister's stand and the issue could become a major irritant between the two parties. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Jagdambika Pal, reacting to Mulayam Singh Yadav's defence of Tripathi, said: "People like Tripathi are a blot on the country's politics. Political parties should get rid of them at the earliest." If Tripathi is charged with murder, it would be an embarrassment for Mulayam Singh Yadav, especially since he had called Tripathi a "murderer and criminal" during his speech on a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.

AMARMANI TRIPATHI, who was a Minister in the Mayawati-led BSP-BJP coalition government, is accused of murdering the 24-year-old poetess because she allegedly refused to abort her child. Tripathi was arrested by the CBI on September 21 after the DNA test confirmed that the foetus matched with his DNA. Ever since he quit the Congress(I) in 1997 along with 18 others to support the then Kalyan Singh-led BJP government, Tripathi has been in the news on several occasions. On December 12, 2001, Tripathi was dismissed as Minister of State for Institutional Finance in the Rajnath Singh-led BJP government after he was linked with a kidnap case. Kidnappers of Rahul Madesia, the 15-year-old son of a businessman in Basti in eastern Uttar Pradesh, told the police that Tripathi had provided them the bungalow in Lucknow from where they were arrested. A week after his dismissal he was arrested in Lucknow and sent to a jail in Basti. Tripathi won the 2002 Assembly elections on the BSP ticket and became a Minister in the Mayawati government. However, Mayawati dismissed him when the CBI started unearthing evidence linking him with the murder of the poetess.

Even before entering politics, Tripathi, listed as a "Category A history-sheeter" with 33 criminal cases pending against him, including five relating to murder, was described in police records as a "member of Hari Shankar Tiwari's gang". Hari Shankar Tiwari, a Loktantrik Congress member of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, wields much clout in eastern Uttar Pradesh and has a number of criminal cases pending against him. He had created a sensation in the early 1980s by winning an Assembly election from behind bars. Tripathi's name had appeared in the news at least twice earlier, during Rajnath Singh's regime, for the alleged forced acquisition of property, one of a widow in Gorakhpur and another of a retired Army officer in Lucknow. On both occasions he was cleared of the charges. His name also figured in the news when the police were on the trail of gangster Sriprakash Shukla, who was later gunned down in an encounter with the police in 1998.

Meanwhile, the CBI investigation into the murder has exposed murky details about the links between Tripathi and Madhumita. Letters and diaries reveal the story of an attractive girl from a lower middle class background who wished to realise her life's dreams with the help of Tripathi. The dreams, however, went awry, resulting in her murder. Tripathi's wife Madhumani too is a suspect in the case because the CBI learned that the two women used to fight over the affair. She has been interrogated once.

Tripathi could soon be formally charged with murder. Although the S.P.'s allies are silent, the Congress(I) is not likely to remain quiet for long. "We are not saying anything at this moment because our honeymoon with the S.P. is still on. But with this episode has begun the process of erosion of that honeymoon," said a senior Congress(I) leader. According to him, confronting Mulayam Singh Yadav at this point would mean beginning the process of snapping the alliance and "we don't want to be seen to be initiating the break". Moreover, the Congress(I) too has several members with criminal antecedents. The issue might have just stopped short of becoming a crisis for the Mulayam Singh Yadav government. But in the future, if the Congress(I) wants to snap ties with him the issue could come in handy.

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