Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday said sacked minister Amarmani Tripathi will not return to her Cabinet until the Central Bureau of Investigation gives him a clean chit.
Mayawati sacked Tripathi after allegations of his involvement in the murder of 24-year-old poetess Madhumita Shukla surfaced.
In a press conference in Lucknow on Friday, she said, "Let me make it loud and clear that now there was no question of having Amarmani Tripathi back as minister."
The CBI, on its part, has agreed to carry out an investigation in to the matter, after consultations with the its legal battery.
The Union home ministry had received a notifcation from the state on Thursday, which it forwarded to the Cabinet Secretariat for seeking an opinion from the CBI.
Mayawati's declaration is a volte-face on her earlier stand, when she had said she would not hesitate to re-induct Tripathi if Madhumita's mother gave him a clean chit.
That statement evoked much criticism from many quarters, including the entire opposition.
Asked what had prompted her to change her mind, Mayawati said, "It was simply because Madhumita's mother has been frequently changing her statement."
Mayawati's latest declaration is giving the Amarmani Tripathi sleepless nights.
The Gorakhpur strongman has been her blue-eyed boy ever since he helped her win a vote of confidence in the UP assembly a few months back.
But with both the Lucknow district police and the Criminal Investigation Department informally furnishing irrefutable evidence against Tripathi, it looks like Mayawati has decided to leave the former minister to his own fate.
With inputs from PTI