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Sacked for being underage, minister vows to fight it out

Soroor Ahmed in Patna

Well, he certainly does not look under-25. And it was probably to prove a point that Rakesh Kumar alias Samrat Chaudhary, who was removed from the Bihar cabinet by Governor Suraj Bhan for being underage, celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday.

When this correspondent reached Chaudhary's residence today, the former minister of horticulture, weight and measurements in the Rashtriya Janata Dal ministry, met him outside the gate and said that he had resigned from the cabinet this morning. It would have been futile to ask him to explain the logic of resigning after being sacked, so the question was not asked.

Surrounded by some youthful supporters the bearded former minister appeared unfazed. "Tell me do I look 18 or 19?" he asked.

Inside there were couple of other journalists already seated. Even as we settled down in our chairs Chaudhary's papa Shakuni Chaudhary came out and joined the discussion.

The senior Chaudhary as a former armyman has fought the wars 1962, 1965 and 1971. Yet, he is now facing the stiffest battle of his life. The governor has not only sacked his son, but has also instituted an inquiry against him for forgery.

"It is the former governor Chief Justice (Retd) B M Lal who should pay up. What was he doing when Samrat was sworn in. Had there been an iota of doubt over Samrat's age Lal would have certainly refused to administer oath to him,'' he said.

The senior Chaudhary hit out at Suraj Bhan for playing politics. "The report of the inquiry conducted by Bihar's chief electoral officer against Samrat was given to Governor B M Lal on September 6. Why didn't he sack Samrat. Also, what took Suraj Bhan so long to take a decision. It's obvious that he (Suraj Bhan) is trying to keep the Vajpayee government in good humour,'' he said.

Regarding the bail petition of 1995, which is being used by Samata Party spokesman P K Sinha to prove that Samrat is only 18 or 19, the senior Chaudhary clarified that no written affidavit was filed in that case. ''It was simply a submission made by Samrat's lawyer,'' he said.

He also pointed out that the Samrat's bail plea was rejected by the chief judicial magistrate. ''In fact he got the bail from high court.''

Samrat, quite ironically, was accused of killing five Janata Dal men during the assembly election of 1995.

Shakuni Chaudhary brushed aside the allegation that his son had given five different dates of births on five different occasions as alleged by the Samata Party spokesman, P K Sinha.

Sinha, who petitioned governor on June 3, alleges that Samrat's date of birth in electoral rolls was not the same as the one given at the time of seeking the bail. Also, his school certificate shows an entirely different date of birth.

Interestingly, Sinha and Shakuni Chaudhary were till a couple of years back good friends and were among the main architects of Samata Party.

Whatever may be Samrat's father's argument, the issue is not going to die down easily and reports from 1 Anney Marg say that the RJD chief, Laloo Prasad Yadav, is much rattled by the development.

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