Freed from jail, Babu Singh Kushwaha is talking point of UP politics

In less than 24 hours after his release from Dasna jail where he was lodged for the past four years in connection with the NRHM scam, former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha has become the talking point of Uttar Pradesh politics.

The former BSP minister was released from jail on Friday evening. Political parties, despite the corruption taint on him, are eager to enlist his support and use his goodwill to get the Kushwaha, Maurya, Kori vote in the UP assembly elections, due next year.

Mr Kushwaha, a low profile politician from the BSP, enjoys mass support among his community and it was his growing popularity among OBCs that led to his being sidelined and, finally, expelled from the BSP. Political analysts believe that Mr Kushwaha’s ouster from the BSP was one of the factors responsible for the BSP’s defeat in 2012 elections since the OBC moved away from the party.

Mr Kushwaha was welcomed into the BJP with much fanfare in 2012 but his involvement in the NRHM scam, made the BJP suspend his membership within a week of his joining the party. “We made mistake after mistake. First, we took him on board and then dumped him. If we had accepted him into the party field, we should have stuck with him till he got convicted by court. I still feel that he can prove to be a game changer in state politics because he has earned OBC sympathy now”, confessed BJP MP. The BJP, apparently is keen to seek the former minister’s support but is also averse to “publicly embracing” him.

The BJP also wants to use Mr Kushwaha against the BSP. A year after his arrest in March 2012, Mr Kushwaha’s wife Shivkanya and brother Shiv Sharan had joined the Samajwadi Party and his wife even contested the Lok Sabha elections on a Samajwadi ticket from Ghazipur.

However, the ruling party did not help Mr Kushwaha in getting bail though it went out of its way to “protect” another NRHM accused, bureaucrat Pradeep Shukla, and this continues to rankle his supporters. BSP president Mayawati is also said to have “softened” towards Mr Kushwaha, mainly because he did not blame her for the NRHM corruption.

However, according to sources, Mr Kushwaha is not too keen to ally or join any political party at the moment. “He has his own non-political forum called ‘Jan Adhikar Manch’ and he will address rallies through it to thank his supporters. He will continue to work for his community members and also fight the conspiracy that put him behind the bars”, said an aide of the former minister.