UF decides to drop scam-tainted minister from ministry

The United Front leadership has decided, in principle, to drop Union minister Chandra Dev Prasad Verma from the council of ministers after the Central Bureau of Investigation decided to chargesheet him in the multi-billion fodder scam. A final decision has been deferred till the agency seeks formal sanction from President S D Sharma to prosecute him.

Highly placed sources said the issue was discussed at length at a separate meeting Prime Minister I K Gujral had with ministers belonging to the Janata Dal after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday night.

Sources said there was no way that Verma could continue in the council of ministers once the sanction is sought from the President for his prosecution.

The sources said that before the government was formed, the Front had decided to keep away all those who were chargesheeted from its council of ministers. These include Sharad Yadav, the late Biju Patnaik, Madhavrao Scindia and Narain Dutt Tiwari. The last two leaders have since joined the Congress.

The sources said deferring a decision on Verma would also help cool down Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav who had warned of dire consequences if the Centre tried to dislodge his government.

The leadership, the sources said, is trying to persuade Yadav to see reason and avoid confrontation on the issue. The leaders expressed confidence to tide over the crisis caused by the CBI's decision.

The party dropped up its move to hold a meeting of the political affairs committee since holding of such meeting required the sanction of Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav who himself is implicated in the Bihar fodder scam.

The JD leaders were toying with the idea of holding an informal meeting on Wednesday evening to discuss the fallout of Yadav's resistance to step down from office. But the meeting also could not take off since Madhu Dandavate was away in Pune and Surendra Mohan was in Bombay. Both are expected back in the capital only on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, an audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has revealed that the Bihar finance department knew of excess expenditure in the animal husbandry department but took no steps to either investigate or check the fraud.

Central Bureau of Investigation sources said the finance department also failed to scrutinise the incomplete AHD budget proposal, thus helping to suppress information about excess expenditure.

CAG sources said the gross overdraft taken by the Bihar state from the Reserve Bank of India came down from Rs 2.7 billion in 1990-91 to Rs 1.68 billion in 1994-95. But during the same period the excess withdrawals by the AHD increased from Rs 290 million to Rs 1.71 billion.

If the excess AHD withdrawal had been controlled, there should have been no overdraft during 1994-95 at all, the report said, since as the state's overdraft of Rs 1.68 billion was less than the excess withdrawal of Rs 1.71 billion by the AHD department during that year.

UNI