Kripashankar Singh

Kripashankar Singh is an Indian politician with the Indian National Congress. He was a minister of state in the Maharashtra 2004 cabinet. He was involved in the Congress gains in Mumbai against Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra assembly elections, 2009. He was the president of the Mumbai chapter of the party until June 2011, when he resigned after his son was linked to the 2G scam, an enormous corruption scandal of 2010.

Life

Singh, who hails from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, migrated to Mumbai and started as a street vendor selling potatoes and onions in Santacruz.[1]

In earlier election depositions, he had claimed to be a B.Sc. graduate, but in 2004 onwards, he claims to have fiished school. However, applications to the institution concerned indicates that he may have failed in the class 12 exams.[2]

Many years ago KripaShankar was working as a Machine Opretor in A Medicine Company AFD (Aglo French Department) manufacturer of Bplex-Forte multivitamin.[3]

Subsequently, he joined the congress, and rose through the ranks to become a powerful figure by the 2004 elections, when he was assigned the cabinet seat as Minister of State for Home.

In 2008, his son Narendra Singh was married to Ankita, daughter of Jharkhand Congress politician Kamlesh Singh. The following year, Kamlesh was arrested for links to the 4,000 crore Madhu Koda graft case[4] and lost badly in the ensuing elections.[5]

Disproportionate assets investigation

In the 2008-2009 period, several accounts held by Kripashankar's wife Maltidevi (who is illiterate), and his son Narendra, showed deposits and transfers totalling Rs 65 crore.[1] The enforcement directorate found no evidence linking him to Koda.[6] However, the anti-corruption investigations revealed an enormous amount of disproportionate assets.

In the 2009 assembly elections, Singh won from the Kalina constituency in Mumbai. In his election declaration, four properties owned by his wife as well as land owned in UP were not declared by Kripashankar. Also his tax registration (Permanent Account Number) was different from his 2004 declaration. His election has been challenged on these grounds and the case is in court.[7]

Despite the huge amounts of unexplained assets, the Congress kept supporting Kripashankar; it has been suggessted that he is close to some aides of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.[8]

In March 2011, it was revealed that in 2008-9, 2G scam kingpin Shahid Balwa had channeled Rs 4.5 crores into an account held by Narendra and his wife.[9]

According to bank documents, the statement of Samata Sahakari Bank accounts in the name of Narendra Mohan and his wife, Ankita, show four deposits by D B Realty, amounting to Rs 4.5 crore during 2008-09. In the prevailing anti-corruption atmosphere of the time, Kripashankar had to resign. A large number of prime properties, BMW cars, and other assets owned by the family were recovered during anti-corruption investigation.[10]

References