Accusations mar Indian minister's appointment A politician accused of attempted murder and kidnapping has been appointed prisons minister in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, raising concerns over the judgment of the new chief minister who had promised that law and order would be his government's top priority. Control of the state, India's most populous, changed hands in elections earlier this month with the Samajwadi party taking power. In one of his first moves as chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav announced that Raghuraj Pratap Singh, an independent MP, would take over responsibility for prisons in the state. Mr Singh, better known locally by the nickname Raja Bhaiyya, previously held a cabinet position in the government of Mr Yadav's father, between 2005 and 2007, and remains influential in the eastern part of the state. Mr Singh has never been convicted of any offence but was arrested in 2002 and detained for more than 12 months under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, a law that gave senior government officials special powers to hold people for prolonged periods without substantial evidence. In 2004 the law was scrapped. Mr Singh still has eight pending criminal cases against him, according to local police. A senior police official who did not want to be named said that following a complaint made by a BSP politician against Mr Singh, the police started an investigation that led them to file charges in 2011 against the prison minister on eight counts including attempted murder, kidnapping and abduction. Mr Raja has not been convicted and awaits trial. Mr Singh did not reply to the FT's requests for comment. Gajendra Singh (no relation), Mr Yadav's personal secretary, said he believed that Mr Raja was detained in 2002 to settle a personal political score. "The charges against Raja Bhaiyya are totally politically motivated," said Mr Singh. He has done nothing wrong. According to analysis from the Association for Democratic Reform, a respected organisation that campaigns for better governance in India, 189 of the 403 MPs elected to the UP parliament have either a criminal record or face criminal charges. However, this phenomenon is not restricted to UP. Almost a third of India's national members of parliament in New Delhi face criminal charges that range from murder to kidnap, fraud and abuse of office, according to ADR, which has been monitoring politicians" finances and criminal records for more than a decade. "The nexus between politics and criminals is getting worse and worse, election after election," said I.C. Dwivedi, a member of ADR. Uttar Pradesh is seen a political bellwether and the Samajwadi party victory was built on an anti-corruption, law and order platform. Observers believe the ruling Congress party failed in its efforts to win more seats in the state partly because it has been mired in corruption scandals for more than 12 months. Dipankar Gupta, professor of social science at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, said that the appointment of a minister who faced criminal proceedings could potentially dent Mr Yadav's image. "It [the appointment] raises the question of whether he [Mr Yadav] can manage the old guard, friends of his father who have a past that is not too clean," said Mr Gupta. The professor added that unless Mr Yadav proved he could rule independently from his father's former friends, as he promised in his campaign, he was bound to disappoint those who voted for him as a symbol of political change and rejuvenation.