Criminal associates embroil Uttar Pradesh CM Mulayam Singh Yadav in controversy

The politician-criminal nexus has long been the bane of Indian politics. But such relationships are normally clandestine. Uttar Pradesh's Mulayam Singh Yadav is however an exception. With typical gung-ho, he refuses to distance himself from friends who have repeatedly been implicated in serious criminal charges.

The Meham fiasco may have made politicians wary of dealing with unsavoury associates, but not Yadav. Some of his own senior partymen express the fear that Yadav may wind up becoming another embarrassment for Prime Minister V. P. Singh.

If Yadav remains nonchalant about his criminal links (see interview), it is partly because his political career has never suffered because of it. For instance in 1982, when V. P. Singh was Congress(I) chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and Yadav an opposition leader, the state Government ordered a CID investigation into 117 charges which made Yadav out to be a mentor of criminals. Yadav claims he was given a clean chit, but curiously, the inquiry report has disappeared from official records.

There is no proof that Yadav has indulged in any criminal activities or that he has been directly used by his controversial friends to influence government decisions. But as Yadav's clout increases, his links with criminals are bound to be raked up by opponents. Some of his controversial associates:

Despite Annaa being a category 'A' history sheeter, Yadav attended his son's birthday and three iftars organised by him in recent months.