Case pending against him, Bihar minister resigns (Lead)

May 20th, 2011 - 2:11 am ICT by IANS  

Bharatiya Janata Party Patna, May 20 (IANS) Bihar Cooperatives Minister Ramadhar Singh, who has a criminal case pending against him, resigned Thursday after the opposition demanded that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sack him.

Sources close to Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, Thursday said Nitish Kumar has accepted his resignation. He had sent his resignation letter to Nitish Kumar, who was in New Delhi Thursday morning.

“Singh had faxed his resignation to Nitish Kumar who later accepted it after his return to Patna,” a leader close to Singh said.

Singh told newspersons here that he resigned to save the image of the Nitish Kumar government.

“I resigned so that opposition will not raise finger at Nitish Kumar,” Singh said.

Singh was declared an absconder by a court in Aurangabad district in May 1995 after he repeatedly failed to appear before it.

The case against him is for making inflammatory speech against the minority community after the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992.

The court had also ordered attachment of the minister’s properties in 1995 and issued a non-bailable warrant against him in the case, police said.

Two days ago, Leader of Opposition Abdul Bari Siddique demanded that Nitish Kumar sack Singh.

Siddique said Singh had concealed the cases against him in his affidavit while filing his nomination from Aurangabad assembly seat in the 2010 polls.

Singh had denied the charge repeatedly saying he was not absconding, but admitted he was out on bail.

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