Raja Bhaiyya's, also known as Raghuraj Pratap Singh, "tough guy" image works well in the politics of UP. His wealth, his lineage and his criminal record add up to the image that lures supporters to him, which in turn makes him a vital ally in politics. He is an independent MLA but three BJP and two Samajwadi Party chief ministers  Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta, Rajnath Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav  have inducted him as a minister, despite the charges of murder, dacoity and abduction he has faced.

Raja Bhaiyya resigned as food and civil supplies minister on Monday after a case of criminal conspiracy was registered against him on a complaint by Parveen Azad, wife of murdered police officer Zia-ul-Haq.

Eight cases remain pending against him, including this one; there was a time when the count was 45. He traces his ancestry to the Bhadri dynasty of Oudh (Awadh); that is where "Raja" derives from. And a legend revolves around a pond on his property.

Locals remain convinced that the Beti Pond has crocodiles that feed on the bodies of his adversaries; Raja Bhaiyya dismisses this as a figment of their imagination. The Mayawati government had confiscated the pond in 2003, renamed it Dr Ambedkar Bird Sanctuary and handed it over to the forest department. Mulayam later handed it back to Raja Bhaiyya.

Five times an MLA from Kunda, Raja Bhaiya has often rallied independents together besides engineering splits in rival camps, particularly in the BSP. This is what earned him ministerial berths in five governments.

The resignation completed a reversal of the trend. Last year, Chief Minister Akhilesh had defended Raja Bhaiyya's induction in 2012 on the ground that the cases against him were politically motivated; Akhilesh had also visited him in jail during the Mayawati regime. But last month, Akhilesh stripped Raja Bhaiyya of his prisons portfolio, before eventually getting him to resign.

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