In a swift action, Janata Dal-United leader and Jharkhand Revenue and Land Reforms Minister Madhu Singh was on Wednesday suspended from the party following reports of his alleged involvement in a cash-for-support deal during the recent Rajya Sabha biennial polls in the state.
The news appeared on Wednesday in a Hindi daily, which claimed to have an audio CD for 'evidence'.
"After we got the unexpected news that one of our ministers, Madhu Singh, had taken Rs 50 lakh to support a candidate during the Rajya Sabha election, we were left with only one option. Singh has been suspended," JD-U president George Fernandes told a press conference in Ranchi.
"The matter has forced us to bow our heads in shame. The party is not ready to keep such persons. We will serve a show cause notice immediately," he added.
Madhu Singh has denied the allegations and threatened to 'file a defamation suit against the local newspaper'.
"A group of BJP members has been against me ever since we opposed former chief minister Babulal Marandi. The newspaper belongs to this group," he alleged.
Eventually, there was no election for the two Rajya Sabha seats in the state and the Bharatiya Janata Party's Yashwant Sinha and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Stephen Marandi made it to the Upper House unopposed.
