LUCKNOW: Even as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav refused to order a CBI inquiry into the Kavita Rani murder case, one of his senior Ministers, Basic Education Minister Kiran Pal Singh, on Wednesday offered to resign. But he said he was deterred from doing so by the Chief Minister himself.
Already, Minister of State for Food Processing Chaudhary Babu Lal and the former Irrigation Minister, Merajuddin Ahmed (both from the Rashtriya Lok Dal) had quit the Government and the party following allegations that they were reportedly in touch with Meerut lecturer Kavita Rani before she went missing.
Without naming Mr. Singh, the Opposition parties had alleged that the police and the Government were trying to shield a Minister, belonging to the ruling Samajwadi Party.
Mr. Singh’s name cropped up after it was reported that the accused in the case, Ravindra Pradhan, was his nephew.
Talking to The Hindu from Bulandshahr, Mr. Singh denied that the accused was his nephew. However, he had referred Kavita Rani’s name to the then chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi.