Front Page   

Mayawati tape issue rocks Lok Sabha

By Our New Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI MARCH 4. The Mayawati episode — the allegation that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister had asked her party MPs and other elected representatives to give to the party fund a "percentage of the commission they get" on works done by spending the constituency fund — sparked a storm of protest in Parliament and outside. Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha demanded her resignation and others wanted the scandal to be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

After loud protests and a lot of din in the Lok Sabha for about half-an-hour, it was decided that the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, will make a statement on the matter in the House tomorrow.

The issue exercised everyone across party lines as last evening and throughout the day some television channels had telecast a videotape allegedly of Ms. Mayawati, addressing her party MLAs and MPs and asking them to contribute a sum to the party fund from the "commission" they got from spending their constituency funds. (Every MP gets a fund of Rs. 2 crores a year to be spent on works in his constituency and in different States MLAs get different annual constituency funds.

One view was that the allegation was grave and it had cast a shadow on the honour of all MPs and this must be cleared after a proper inquiry. Some MPs even demand that the scheme be scrapped altogether although it is known that many, including some BJP MPs, have been in favour of increasing the fund to Rs. 3 crores a year.

But it seemed from comments made later by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, that the Government may at most allow the matter to be raised as a privilege issue. When pressed what procedure could be followed, she told reporters that it could become a privilege issue. However, some other MPs stated outside the House that the Speaker had the authority to ask for a full inquiry.

The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha by the Samajwadi Party MPs, Ramjilal Suman and Akhilesh Singh, who said that it was a clear case of corruption which must be probed by the CBI. They were supported by Congress, Left and Rashtriya Janata Dal MPs even as some SP members moved to the well of the House. The SP also tried to raise the issue in the Rajya Sabha but it was disallowed.

Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi (Cong.) said that this was a grave issue and insisted that the Government make its position clear, while Raghuvansh Prasad (RJD) and Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress) said that if this was the way the MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) was being misused it should be scrapped. Outside the House the Congress renewed its demand for Ms. Mayawati's resignation and a CBI probe. "If she doesn't resign on her own, the Uttar Pradesh Governor should sack her'' said Satyavrath Chaturvedi. But the BJP spokesperson, V.K. Malhotra, preferred not to comment considering that the matter was delicate as it involved a coalition partner in Uttar Pradesh.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Move on Ayodhya has no political motive: PM
• Mayawati tape issue rocks Lok Sabha
• No trust move against Mayawati Govt.
• Bush talks to Vajpayee on Iraq
• Statement made under pressure, says Hurriyat activist
• Veerbhadra Singh to be Himachal CM
• Lapang sworn-in
• Pak. Major suspected of having Al-Qaeda links
• England captain resigns
• 10 killed in bus accident

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu