The Hindu : I will fight it out, says Mayawati

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 20, 2003

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I will fight it out, says Mayawati

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 19. The former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, today refuted allegations of her involvement in the Rs. 175-crore Taj Heritage Corridor project, accusing "Manuwadi'' forces of hatching a conspiracy to politically sully her image.

Addressing a crowded press conference at her residence here, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader demanded that the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, issue a "white paper'' after probing the assets of leaders of all political parties. A committee comprising independent, respected and credible persons should conduct the probe, she suggested. While reposing full faith in the judiciary, she vowed to put up a spirited fight through the means of vote and the "people's court.''

Repeatedly accusing "Manuwadi'' forces to link everything to the Taj Corridor project, she raised questions on the conduct of two Union Ministers — the Tourism and Culture Minister, Jagmohan, and the Environment and Forests Minister, T.R. Baalu.

"The archaeological survey has an office right inside the Taj compound at Agra where the work was going on since December last. The Ministers now say they did not know anything about it. While the Court said that my former Environment Minister, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, and myself knew about the project, how come it did not consider that the Central Ministers were feigning ignorance? How is it possible?'' she asked.

Referring to the Supreme Court order in the Taj Corridor project, Ms. Mayawati said that millions of people of the "Bahujan Samaj'' believed that it was a "one-sided order''. She said that she would react to the Supreme Court order only after receiving a copy of the judgment.

Training her guns on the CBI, she accused the agency of leaking its report on the Taj project to the media despite the Supreme Court directive to keep it secret. "The CBI made discreet queries from the Income Tax Department and the Registrar office. Why ask them. Why not ask me directly?'' she said. The former Chief Minister said the land purchased recently in Delhi was in the name of her party — the Bahujan Samaj Party.

"When leaders of Manuwadi parties purchase plots worth crores of rupees, nobody even raises a finger. While the Bahujan Samaj Party will take revenge, I will also not sit quietly. It will only strengthen my resolve to fight it out,'' she said.

On her acquisition of properties, Ms. Mayawati said that it was an "internal family matter'' and she had sold her inherited agricultural land to her brother in Bulandshahar in Uttar Pradesh. She said that people from the BSP were not aware of Income Tax laws and had invested in hotels and other businesses.

"The attempt to link all this to the Taj Corridor project is totally wrong. It is all being done to tarnish my image,'' she added. The BSP vice-president said Mr. Vajpayee should fulfil his promise of making public the details of assets of his Cabinet Ministers.

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