Will Kameshwar Chaupal, allegedly a fake Dalit be next Deputy CM of Bihar?




Chaupal is accused of having contested an assembly election in 1991 on his fake identity of Dalit from a SC reserved constituency of Raniganj in Araria.

 

NDA is all set to form the new government in Bihar with Nitish Kumar fourth term Chief Minister of the state. However, Sushil Kumar Modi seems not be so lucky to be the next deputy Chief Minister.

If reports are to be believed, Kameshwar Chaupal is expected to be named as next Bihar Deputy Chief Minister by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on November 16.

Kameshwar Chaupal is one of the 15 members of a trust set up on the directions of the Supreme Court to construct a Ram temple at Ayodhya.

Kameshwar Chaupal who is supposedly being made Deputy CM of Bihar is because he claims he comes from a Schedule Caste namely Chaupal as his surname suggests. However, his identity of being a member of Schedule Caste (Dalit) community is suspicious.

According to an FIR registered at SC/ST Police Staion, Patna, vide registration number 28/99 he does not belong to a Dalit community and actually a member of Khatwey caste which falls under a backward caste. He was charged under sections 401, 465, 468, 470 and 471 of the IPC and section 3 (1) (ix) and 3 (2) (v) (vi) of the prevention of the Atrocity against the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes Act, 1989.

Former IPS Officer Amitabh Kumar Das, then CID SP of Araria, speaking to The Morning Chronicle confirmed that he himself had ordered to register an FIR against him in the above mentioned case.

“I was CID SP of Araria district. Chaupal was contesting an election from a SC reserved assembly seat of Raniganj. I had got a tip that his caste certificate was forged and he did not belong to Chaupal caste but a backward caste Khatwey. Soon after the tip, I investigated the case and found the accusation against him to be true. When I collected all the required evidence I ordered an FIR against him which was registered at Patna Harijan Police Station,” Mr, Das said.

“In fact, the process of FIR registration between Police and CID is different. The Police initiate investigation after registration of FIR whereas the CID first conduct inquiry, collect evidences and when satisfied with all the evidences order to file an FIR,” when asked if he had solid proof against Mr. Chaupal, the former IPS said.

Mr. Chaupal had then moved to Patna High Court with the help of current cabinet minister Ravi Shanker Prasad and made a plea to quash the FIR which the High Court rejected.

The case is reportedly still pending in the lower court.

Mr. Chaupal was accorded the honour of performing the first Shilanyas — laying the first brick in the foundation for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya on November 9, 1989 — as part of the Sangh Parivar’s social engineering.

Kameshwar Chaupal had fought several elections but lost all.

In 1991, he had fought from Rosera Lok Sabha seat against Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan, who passed away ahead of 2020 Bihar polls and lost. In 1995, he fought Bihar Assembly Elections from Bakhari seat in Begusarai but again lost.

In 2014 elections, the BJP had fielded him against Pappu Yadav’s wife Ranjeet Ranjan from Supaul seat. However, he could not win that time as well.

He was a member of Bihar Legislative Council from the BJP in 2002.

Liked it? Take a second to support The TMC Desk on Patreon!