Word: antulay
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...Chief Minister of India's bustling southwestern state of Maharashtra, Abdul Rehman Antulay, 52, had built a reputation as an outspoken local leader of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Congress (I) Party. Antulay has presided in the state capital of Bombay over an ambitious array of populist projects designed to enhance both the party's image and his own. But last week Antulay was the center of a major scandal, in which he is alleged to have dispensed patronage and other favors in return for contributions and is said to have used Prime Minister Gandhi...
...Antulay had set up trust funds designed to improve roads, build post offices, help jobless youths, the disabled and the poor. One fund was called the Indira Gandhi Pratibha Pratishthan (talent trust) to "encourage talented people in the fields of literature and the fine arts." The anti-Gandhi Indian Express claims that Antulay solicited money for the trust funds from businesses by granting building permits and other licenses, and by rewarding donors with scarce supplies of such state-controlled commodities as industrial alcohol and cement...
Although the Maha rashtra government dis tributed a photograph showing Gandhi inaugurating the talent fund, the Prime Minister had not approved the use of her name. Two months ago, she wrote Antulay ordering him to remove her name from the trust. In an impassioned 50-min. speech to the state legislative assembly, Antulay admitted using her name without authorization. His excuse: "I thought I would be able to persuade Mrs. Gandhi to give her permission." But that, he insisted, was his only mistake. He declared that all the money had been used for the public good...
India's Parliament has hotly debated the propriety of Antulay's action. At one point, all of the members of the opposition parties angrily walked out in a rare show of unity. Last week a Bombay court held a hearing on a criminal complaint filed against Antulay by Ramdas Nayak, general secretary of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Nayak is charging that Antulay is guilty of "cheating, bribery and extortion," and should be put on trial. Meanwhile, Antulay has sent Gandhi his resignation. She is expected to make a decision on it when a suitable - and more circumspect...
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