IANS/Lucknow

Even as the controversy surrounding former minister Raja Bhaiyya for his alleged role in a police officer’s killing refused to die down, another Uttar Pradesh minister appeared headed for trouble yesterday.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has sought an explanation from Khadi and Cottage Industry Minister Raja Ram Pandey for his alleged sexist comments about an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer last month.
At a programme held at the Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology in Sultanpur last month to distribute cheques to unemployed youths, Pandey openly praised Sultanpur’s women district magistrates for their “beauty”.
The minister, during his speech, said: “It is my privilege that I’m the guardian minister of Sultanpur for the second time and every time I get a chance to work with beautiful women district magistrates.”
Pandey then turned to K Dhanalakshmi, the present district magistrate and said: “Previously, when there was Kamini Chauhan Ratan. I used to think that no woman can match her beauty. But when the present district magistrate took over, I realised she is more beautiful. She is also very soft spoken.
“I have been thinking about their good looks. But she is also a very good administrator,” he said.
Reacting to the ruckus, a defiant Pandey accused the media of twisting his statement and giving a different colour. “What was wrong in praising someone beautiful. I haven’t said anything indecent about the woman IAS officer,” the visibly angry minister said while replying media queries.
Pandey further said that he was praising the work done during her stint as district magistrate in Sultanpur. “I only said she was beautiful and I find nothing wrong in it,” Pandey added.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that in 2011, the Central Bureau of Investigation had conducted multiple raids at Dhanalakshmi’s houses in New Delhi and Bangalore and unearthed disproportionate wealth worth Rs31mn.
However, she had claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had included her mother’s wealth in her asset assessment.
Recently, she had also moved the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court alleging harassment at the hands of some CBI officers.
Pandey, a gangster-turned-politician, is well known for giving patronage to criminals. His deputy minister, Riyaz Ahmad, had recently handed over an 18-page complaint against him to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav alleging that Pandey was demanding bribe for appointments and postings.