Should Pawan Bansal resign or not? Who said What

Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal who has found himself squarely in the middle of the latest scam to hit the UPA government, is the subject of intense political debate. Should he continue to stay in the government, or should he go? The Minister has been consistently denying that he is involved with a scam in which a railway employee, identified as Mahesh Kumar allegedly offered his nephew Vijay Singla Rs 90 Lakh as the first tranche of a bribe to ensure he received a lucrative promotion. [caption id=“attachment_756711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PTI[/caption] “Though a close relative, he or any other relative of mine does not and cannot meddle in my official function or influence my decision. There is also no business relationship between his and my family”, he said in a statement. The BJP has been unyielding in its demand for him to leave, although the Congress decided in a meeting on Sunday that he would stay for now. A large group of BJP workers attempted to storm Bansal’s Delhi residence, waving placards and shouting for him to leave. The protestors managed to break through two security barricades before the Delhi police stopped them with water cannons. However apart from the Congress Bansal has also found support from BSP leader Mayawati and RSD head Lalu Prasad Yadav. Other leaders like Nitish Kumar have remained non-committal. This is a collection of who has said what on the Rail Minister so far: Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Kamal Nath: The probe is going on. The truth should come out. It is a bad tradition to ask for any resignations before the probe is complete. Ram Gopal Yadav, Samajwadi Party: When non-Congress officials are caught, they are quickly investigated. But Congress ministers accused of corruption are protected. This is a serious matter and Pawan Bansal cannot be protected for long. He will have to be sacked Nitish Kumar, leader BJ(D): It is a personal matter to resign or not. Sharad Yadav, convenor, NDA: If any relative of a political leader is involved in corruption, then what is the fault of that leader. I have known Pawan Bansal for a long time. He has been in Parliament for a long time. What has he to do with anything if his nephew is taking bribe? Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP: Pawan Bansal should have stepped down as soon as the details of his officials involvement came out. Mayawati, leader BSP: The issue is being investigated by the CBI and it should not prolong its probe in this case and keep its report before the nation as soon as possible. Till the time CBI report does not come out, it would not be appropriate to ask for the resignation of the Railway Minister in a hurry. Sitaram Yechury, leader CPI-M The Railway Minister should resign on moral grounds. Lalu Prasad Yadav, leader RSD: Bansal is an honest person (Bansal ek imandar vyakti hain). His kin could have taken advantage of their proximity to him as it so happens in public life. Relatives do misuse their proximity with ministers.