A Class 10 pass out, a master of networking and communication skills

LUCKNOW Nikant Jain, 39, a Class 10 passout and middleman, whose arrest led to action against Invest UP CEO Abhishek Prakash on Thursday, thrived on political and bureaucratic connections of his late father Sudhir Kumar Jain, a seasoned businessman and a contractor of his time. He was also a partner in his elder brother Sukant Jain’s group of companies and largely operated from their office in the posh Virat Khand locality of Gomti Nagar.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath cracked the whip on senior IAS officer and Invest UP CEO Abhishek Prakash by suspending him for allegedly seeking bribe through the middleman for approving a solar power plant project and ordered action against him. The Lucknow police arrested Nikant Jain, who was supposedly demanding 5% of total cost of the project as commission for approving the project, allegedly at the behest of Prakash.

Nikant’s father built a sprawling bungalow in Vinamr Khand locality of Gomti Nagar, nearly a kilometer from the office from where he and his brother operated.

“People in the vicinity had a perception that Nikant is associated with the government sector,” said his neighbour.

A UP STF official said nobody could guess that Nikant was merely a Class 10 passout because of his dressing style and communication skills. “He was arrested on Thursday after his name surfaced as a middleman for allegedly seeking bribe at the behest of Invest UP CEO Abhishek Prakash, who was suspended in wake of the corruption controversy,” he said.

Nikant’s father and elder brother had floated a group of eight companies, in which the father and mother Anita Jain were also partners. Nikant’s late father was an ‘A class’ contractor and had dealt with several big projects, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee Scientific Convention Centre between 2001 and 2004 as well as Gomti Nagar Vinay Khand mini stadium in 2017. His family hailed from Meerut and shifted to Lucknow over 25 years back and developed a good political and bureaucratic network while handling some big projects in Lucknow, said the STF official.

“Nikant was poor in academics since childhood, but was excellent in network building. Despite being Class 10 passout, he visited Lucknow University and developed his network there resolving problems of his friends,” said one of his LU friends.

“After his father’s death, Nikant expanded his bureaucratic and political network by getting close to a group of IAS officers. He came in touch with Abhishek Prakash, after the latter became the district magistrate of Lucknow in October 2019. His proximity with Abhishek Prakash increased during Covid pandemic outbreak between March 2020 and March 2022.” he added. Prakash became Invest UP CEO in June 2022.

Nikant Jain was arrested on Thursday after an FIR was registered against him at Gomti Nagar police station for allegedly seeking bribe at the behest of the senior IAS officer for approving a solar power plant project. The action came after the state government took cognizance on the complaint of SAEL Solar P6 Private Limited. According to the state government, the project was again sent for re-evaluation by the Invest UP CEO after approval allegedly without any valid reason.

“Malicious intent of Invest UP CEO Abhishek Prakash, vested interest and unfair financial gain could be the reason for this,” said the government in a statement. “In the case, prima facie Prakash has been found responsible. This is a violation of the All India Services (conduct) rules -1968 section -3,” the government statement added.