New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the removal of controversial Uttar Pradesh Minister Amar Mani Tripathi by Chief Minister Mayawati in the wake of his name being linked with the murder of young poetess Madhumita Shukla.

"The step taken by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is in the right direction. The inquiry ordered by the state government is a step in the right direction and leaves no moral right for the Opposition parties to make further hue and cry over the Madhumita case," party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters.

He said it was ironical that Samajwadi Party and Congress were out to exploit the situation for narrow political gains despite the fact that their leadership had earlier, on so many occasions, not only remained aloof to the demand of morality, but shamelessly gone all out to shield and protect those involved in various crimes and scandals.

PTI