After having called him a murderer and a member of the mafia in days gone by, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday came to the rescue of Amarmani Tripathi, ruling out any action against him by the Samajwadi Party in the wake of the former minister's arrest in connection with the murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla.
"Tripathi has saved Uttar Pradesh. He has helped in saving the country. Irrespective of what action the CBI or the court takes, the Samajwadi Party will not take any action (against him)," Yadav told reporters in Delhi. The reason he cited was that Tripathi had done no wrong since he joined the Samajwadi Party.
On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party's coalition partner, the Congress still does not have any sympathy for him.
"People like Tripathi are a blot on the country's politics, and political parties should get rid of them at the earliest," Uttar Pradesh Congress president Jagdambika Pal told PTI in Lucknow adding people like Tripathi use politics as a camouflage to carry out their criminal activities. "Political parties should keep such elements at arm's length," he said.
The CBI arrested Tripathi after his DNA sample matched that of the foetus of Madhumita's unborn child.
On Monday, he was remanded to judicial custody till October six. Special Judicial Magistrate (CBI) R M Yadav posted for Tuesday the CBI's application seeking custody of the accused.
Tripathi, who was a minister in the Mayawati government, was sacked after the opposition, including Mulayam Singh Yadav, raised a hue and cry in the wake of reports linking him to the murder. Initially, Mayawati had defended him.
Tripathi crossed over the Samajwadi Party when Mayawati parted ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party and lost power. When Yadav was looking for allies to form an alternative government, Tripathi helped him win a vote of confidence in the state assembly.