Strange are the ways of the Bahujan Samaj Party. At a time when every party on the political firmament is seeking resignations of ministers lording over ministries allegedly indulging in irregularities, the BSP has come to the support of railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, now embroiled in controversy over his nephew’s alleged deals to fix a spot in the railway board.

“The issue (bribery scandal) is being investigated by the CBI and it should not prolong its probe in this case and keep its report before the nation as soon as possible,” BSP chief Mayawati told reporters outside Parliament House complex on Monday afternoon.

“Till the time CBI report does not come out, it would not be appropriate to ask for the resignation of the railway minister in a hurry,” she was quoted by the PTI.

Also read: Bansal kin bribery: Why railway board post is so sought after

Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla was arrested in Chandigarh on Friday for allegedly accepting Rs 90 lakh cash from a middleman employed by Mahesh Kumar, recently promoted as member (staff) of the all-powerful railway board. All opposition parties, cutting across ideological or other divide, have stepped on the quit-Bansal bandwagon, the latest being Mayawati’s bête noire, the Samajwadi Party, which on Monday called for the railway minister’s resignation since his continuation, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, could influence the CBI investigation.

Asked about the UPA accepting resignations of allies like former telecom ministers A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran but shielding Congress members like law minister Ashwani Kumar and Bansal, Mayawati said, “We are not UPA constituents and are giving only outside support to it.”

While it could be deemed very forthright, gracious and generous of Mayawati to decide not against pressing for the resignation of a minister accused of involvement in irregularities, it is another matter that she and her party leaders fail to be sticklers for such grace on all occasions.

Just two examples of this political amnesia: around this time last year, the BSP in Uttar Pradesh was demanding for the sacking of controversial state minister Raja Bhaiyya for his alleged involvement in the Rs 50,000-crore foodgrain scam in the previous SP government.

"Any delay in taking action against the minister would mean that the Samajwadi Party does not believe in doing what it speaks and would show insincerity of Akhilesh government on the issue of fighting corruption", BSP state unit president Swami Prasad Maurya had said.

The same demand was raised recently, after Raja Bhaiyya’s alleged role in the killing of a DSP in Kunda area of Pratapgarh district.

In fact, around this time two months ago, Mayawati herself was demanding UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s resignation and imposition of president’s rule in the state following the murder.

Not that the probe was not going on in those cases at that very point of time. But, then, when did politics stop being a game of convenience where the opportunist tangos with the propitious? As Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati’s numero uno bête noire, had said at the time, “Mayawati’s demand for the CM’s resignation and president’s rule is totally uncalled for. It’s like the pot calling the kettle black.”

Well said, though Ramgopal Yadav’s demand for Bansal’s resignation today could also be seen in the same light. Which turned black first, the pot or the kettle?