Kripashankar, the man linked to every major scandal in India

Kripashankar Singh is an incredible man. He has the dubious distinction of being linked to every major scandal in the country in recent times. But the cunning political manipulator has managed to emerge unscathed in all of them. But finally luck seems to have run out for the man from Uttar Pradesh who made it big politically in Mumbai. The name of Singh, who was the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chief just a day ago till his party decided to boot him out, had surfaced in the thousand-crore hawala racket involving Madhu Koda, former Jharkhand chief minister. He was suspected to be one of the recipients of Koda’s ill-gotten wealth and the key person to have facilitated the movement of the money. While Koda landed in jail, Singh escaped with minor taint. [caption id=“attachment_222967” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“His name cropped up in the 2G scandal too. Screenrab/ibnlive”]  [/caption] His name cropped up in the 2G scandal too. Shahid Balwa’s DB Realty allegedly paid Rs 4.5 crore to Singh’s son Narendra Mohan in installments between 2008 and 2009. While Mohan claimed it was a loan, there have been serious questions on the real motive. While Balwa is facing the legal music, nothing has happened to Narendra and his father Kripashankar, who had offered to resign from his post following the allegation. The Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai claimed its biggest victim in Ashok Chavan, who had to resign as chief minister when the Congress at the Centre found the issue too hot to handle. Singh’s name did the rounds here too. But nothing much had come out of it. The Congress was too scared to displease him – he is believed to be close to Ahmed Patel, AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s eyes and ears, a connection he never hesitated to flaunt aggressively. The party has been planning to sack him as the MRCC chief after the poor showing in the BMC polls but never mustered enough courage to make the decisive move. In the Congress circles he is known as a canny operator, a man who would love to embarrass ministers by reeling out details of money they made out of deals loudly enough for people around to hear. The squirming ministers would let him have his way. He resorted to subtle political blackmailing too, using the ‘high command’ connection to good effect. The party bosses have been aware of of his deeds for sometime but no one was gutsy enough to call his bluff, with the exception of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who belongs to the close circles of both the AICC chief and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Canny as he is, Singh could have escaped here too. But the Bombay High Court decided to step in. Kripashankar Singh’s track record in the wrong side of the law is impressive indeed. According to the PIL of Sanjay Tewari, which was converted into a First Information Report by the court, he has two different Permanent Account Number cards; he passed B Sc before he cleared his higher secondary examination; and yes, according to documents submitted by his family member, he became a father when three years of age. And property worth over Rs 320 crore in 39 years in his name and that of his family members! For a man who started out as a vegetable vendor in 1973, this has to be a very unusual success story. Now that the court has decided that he will be tried under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the real story will soon be out. We must be grateful to the court for taking a tough decision. But there are too many characters like Singh around in politics. Should not the court be taking care of them too? It is expecting too much of the already overburdened courts. Activists could be of help here. Thank God, for the PIL. The Kripashankar Singh story also reflects the underbelly of the political class and all the wheeling-dealing they indulge in. The parties seem to be in no position to control people with some clout somewhere, either in solid mass support on the ground or blessings from the top echelon of the party or in the form financial power. In Karnataka, the Reddy brothers played havoc with the BJP government; in Mayawati’s Uttar Pradesh ministers with huge disproportionate wealth are dime a dozen; and there’s no escaping such people in other states. Political parties must find ways to contain them.