Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said on Saturday that Congress President Sonia Gandhi's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging him to intervene in the suspension of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, has no significance as the ruling party and the Samajwadi Party (SP) worked in collaboration.
UPA chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to intervene in the case of IAS office Durga Shakti Nagpal's suspension. According to reports, Gandhi has told the Prime Minister in her letter that though the matter is between the Uttar Pradesh Government and the IAS officer, the Central Government should see how it can intervene in it.
"The Samajwadi Party is in alliance with the Congress at the Centre. Sonia Gandhi's letter to Manmohan Singh does not have any significance because the Samajwadi Party and the Congress are working together. The Congress needs their support on the Food Security Bill, as well. The Central Government is using the letter to waste time," Hussain said here today.
Hussain added that if the Centre was genuinely interested in intervening in the case, it could revoke the order immediately. "If the intent is to help IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, then the Centre can do so right away by revoking the suspension order. The letter is just paperwork and nothing beyond it," Hussain said.
Gandhi's letter comes two days after representatives of the Central IAS officers' Association met Minister of State in PMO V. Narayanasamy to demand justice for Nagpal.
The Left Front has demanded that Nagpal's suspension issue should be taken up in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
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"This victimisation of an IAS officer should find a place in Parliament. The UP Government should respond on this. If action is not taken, then a wrong message will go to the honest officers," said Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta said.
Nagpal was suspended last month ostensibly for taking on the sand mafia and for ordering the demolition of a wall of a mosque that was being built on government land in the state's Gautam Buddh Nagar District, where she was posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
According to reports, the 2009-batch IAS officer had seized nearly 300 trolleys of sand being illegally mined from the Yamuna river bed.
Though the Uttar Pradesh Government has called it as an 'administrative decision', against her for demolishing a wall which was part of an intended mosque, but many believe that it was the result of pressure from the mining mafia.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Government said removing Nagpal was an "administrative decision" as her decision to demolish the mosque could trigger communal tension, especially since it came during the month of Ramzan.
Defending his government's action, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has said the bureaucrat ordered the demolition of a portion of the mosque which might have resulted in disturbing peace in the state.
"You should inquire from the people of that village. The Muslim families collected donation for building a mosque, a wall was built, and you took the decision without holding any consultation and spoilt the environment there," he said.
Yadav said there was no matter of mining for which the action was taken.
"The government will act against all those who act against goodwill and brotherhood or try to spoil the environment by of their work," he added, while rubbishing reports that the government acted tough only because it was a matter of illegal mining.
"If you look at the record of last two to three months then you will come to know that truck and machines were caught. We are also desirous that illegal mining should not take place," he added.