UP guv trashes charge that he has made Raj Bhawan a BJP office

Rejecting charges that he has converted Raj Bhawan into BJP office, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik today said he ceased to be a member of that party the day he accepted the gubernatorial post though he was still "an RSS man".
"I am still an RSS man but from the day I accepted this post I am not with BJP and hence do not indulge in politics," Naik who completed one year in the UP Raj Bhawan said during a press conference organised on the occasion.
To a query on senior Samajwadi Party minister Azam Khan's charge that he had converted Raj Bhawan into BJP office, Naik remarked, "Azam Khan is a senior minister in the government, I see him as an exception and do not want to give any statement about him."

Naik also recalled that an NGO Citizens for Democracy, based on his statement relating to Ayodhya issue, had filed a PIL in the high court seeking his removal as governor but the court on January 12 this year rejected the petition terming it as not maintainable.
The NGO had challenged the high court's decision in the Supreme Court, which too dismissed the plea on July 10 proving that he had not said anything undermining the dignity of his office.
On the state government's reported controversial decision to replace the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court with Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in the three-member committee meant for selecting the state's Lokayukta, he said he does not have any official information about it.

"I came to know about this from media reports that a decision to this effect has been taken by cabinet by circulation but its copy has not been received at Raj Bhawan," he said.