NEW DELHI, 20 August 2005 — A recommendation letter written by Bihar Governor Buta Singh to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav seeking favors for two senior railway officers has sparked a fresh controversy.

The opposition National Democratic Alliance(NDA) has termed the letter as “immoral and a denigration of the post and prestige of the office of the governor.”

In the letter dated July 15, 2005, Governor Buta Singh had requested for the posting of Vijay P. Meshram, chief materials manager (South Eastern Railway), who was on study leave up to July 15, as controller of stores of Central Railway. Buta had also recommended the posting of Girish Bhatnagar, another officer of the Indian Railway Service, as AGM, Central Railway.

The governor, in his letter, had further stated that Meshram had worked for 20 years in South Eastern Railway at Calcutta, Kharagpur, Tatanagar, Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Nagpur and three years in Dew in Patiala in Punjab.

The leaking of the letter to the media has generated a major controversy with the NDA demanding the governor’s recall, dubbing it as “an immoral act and denigration of the post and prestige of the high office of a constitutional authority.”

Bihar BJP President Sushil Kumar Modi, MP, charged Buta Singh with being “hand-in-glove” with Lalu Prasad and running the state administration “at the latter’s behest.”

BJP national Vice President, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi accused the central UPA government of lending “direct or indirect support” to the “unlawful activities” of Buta Singh and said his party would approach the Election Commission to seek its intervention as polls were due in the state.

“The revelation of Bihar governor’s recommendation is a serious matter. It has demonstrated that he is not impartial,” Naqvi told the media, reacting on reports. Alleging that the governor has been indulging in “undemocratic, unconstitutional and immoral activities,” the BJP leader said he should be recalled immediately.