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Sacked UP minister demands probe into dismissal

The controversy over recitation of Vande Mataram and Saraswati Vandana in schools in Uttar Pradesh seems to be far from over, as Ravindra Shukla, who was recently sacked as state basic education minister, demanded a high-level probe into the entire episode.

Shukla, who was dropped from the council of ministers on charge of misguiding Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, asserted that the latter's claim that he was kept in the dark in the matter, was "false".

''Kalyan Singh had full knowledge of the government order issued under the Kalp Yojna to be implemented in the government schools of the state,'' the minister insisted, adding that he was ready to be punished if found guilty in a high-level probe.

Shukla, who had recently met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Delhi, said he had apprised him of the truth of the matter. He, however, refused to give details of his talks with Vajpayee. The party high command will take its own time in taking a decision on the matter, he added.

Kalyan Singh had, on December 4, dropped Shukla from his cabinet on the charge that he had kept him in the dark about the Kalp Yojna and did not seek cabinet approval.

UNI

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