Apna Dal (Sonelal) working president and Uttar Pradesh Technical Education Minister Ashish Singh Patel has challenged his opponents to call for a CBI probe against him and his wife Anupriya Patel, who is a Union Minister.

“I am not afraid of conspiracies. Let the CBI investigate — Why are you afraid? I will respond to a brick with a stone and not remain silent after being accused of irregularities. It is my fault that out of fourteen, I made seven directors from the deprived class. The backward people have been given a chance. If that’s my mistake, I will continue making it. I will not be scared and you can scare me as much as you want. If you have the system, I have democracy,” he declared during a party meeting here on Thursday.

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Anupriya Patel, the national president of the party, was also present at the meeting and expressed support for her husband.

Ashish Singh Patel further said, “Get my and my wife’s property checked. There is a ‘strike master’ who has been sponsored and placed to orchestrate the strike. Find out which STF officer has sent two people to sit on strike.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Ashish Singh Patel alleged “a threat to his life” from the state police’s Special Task Force (STF) and claimed a “larger conspiracy” behind the allegations of irregularities in his technical education department.

The controversy arose after a section of people raised concerns over appointments made by the minister in his department.

The issue was raised by SP MLA Pallavi Patel, the minister’s sister-in-law and a leader of the Apna Dal (Kameravadi). She accused the minister of bypassing service rules in departmental promotions.

Calling it a ‘scam’, she accused departmental officials of violating service rules to favour senior officials. The SP leader also raised the issue in the state assembly and staged a two-day dharna outside the Vidhan Sabha to protest it.

The minister denied the allegations and emphasised that the promotion of officials was “discussed at all levels, including the Chief Minister’s Office”.

Union Minister Anupriya Patel, while supporting her husband, said: “Your leader shared some things with you; there was some pain in his mind, which is why he said this. If the reputation of any Apna Dal worker or leader is harmed, we will not compromise, and we know how to respond.

“Every one of our workers knows where and on whose instructions the conspiracies against Apna Dal are being orchestrated. When we question the violation of the rights of backward people, it definitely hurts someone, but we will neither fear nor bow down to anyone. No matter how much they try to scare us, we will respond with the power of the organisation, and all these conspirators will be cornered,” she remarked.