Ranchi, Sep 26

Jharkhand Agriculture Minister and Congress leader Yogendra Sao has sought the help of Chief Minister Hemant Soren in withdrawing legal cases pending against him, sources in the state government said Thursday.

Sao wrote to the chief minister demanding the withdrawal of cases pending against him, and a narco test on the investigating officer (IO), reliable sources said. Two cases, including one of extortion, are pending against the minister.

Sao alleged in his letter to Soren that he had been implicated in false cases, and the investigation of the alleged crimes was not done properly. 

Sao is not unaccustomed to being in the news for the wrong reasons. When he became minister, he told reporters: "To become a minister, I did lots of homework, including stitching up shoes of central leaders." 

On another occasion, he said: "Sonia Gandhi is my mother, and Rahul is my big brother".

The Congress has reacted with caution to his statements. 

"The issue has come to notice of the party. We will look into the matter and an appropriate decision will be taken after getting the details," Shailesh Sinha, chief spokesperson of the Jharkhand unit of the Congress, told IANS.

The main opposition party has pounced on a chance to take a dig at the government. 

"While forming this (Hemant Soren) government, the alliance partners, including the Congress, boasted that the new government was being formed for the development of the state. Now, the real objectives are coming to the fore," Biranchi Narayan, vice president of the Jharkhand unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, told IANS. 

"Instead of focusing on development and protecting the constitution, the personal agendas of ministers, like getting free from criminal cases, are emerging. This is a most unfortunate demand by a minister in a democracy. Law should be allowed to work in a fair way," Narayan said.

By:IANS