Mayawati Sees Congress 'Conspiracy' Behind Petition in DA Case

Mayawati also accused Congress of using Jagjivan Ram, Dalit stalwart of his time, against Ambedkar.
BSP Chief Mayawati speaks during a function on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Bhimrao Ambedkar in Lucknow. |PTI
BSP Chief Mayawati speaks during a function on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Bhimrao Ambedkar in Lucknow. |PTI

LUCKNOW: BSP supremo Mayawati today accused Congress of a "conspiracy", a day after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition seeking registration of a fresh FIR against her in a disproportionate assets case.

"As part of a conspiracy, Congress party through its Dalit worker Kamlesh Verma, who had contested Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully in the past from Madhya Pradesh, has got a new petition filed for a fresh hearing in the case," she said at a function to mark the 125th anniversary of B R Ambedkar.

"In 2003, under a political conspiracy, I was wrongly framed in the disproportionate assets case by CBI under the garb of Taj Corridor case," she said, adding that she was forced to move the Supreme Court as the matter was kept pending after the UPA government came to power in 2004.

Mayawati, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and a minister in her government, Nasimuddin Siddiqui, were charged with corruption in 2002-2003 in the Taj Corridor project which was intended to upgrade tourist facilities near the Taj Mahal.

The BSP chief said that even as she got justice in the apex court, Congress used its worker to get the PIL filed for a fresh hearing in a case which she had already won.

Mayawati also said that Congress, BJP and other parties were trying to check BSP by getting her entangled in court cases.

Her remarks came a day after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a fresh plea seeking registration of a fresh FIR against BSP supremo for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets.

Attacking the Congress for being "anti-Ambedkar", she objected to Rahul Gandhi reportedly comparing him (Ambedkar) with Rohith Vemula at Ambedkar Jayanti related programme in Nagpur.

"This goes to prove that he does not have the right information about Ambedkar and his personality...otherwise, he would have compared him with Nelson Mandela or Kanshi Ram," she said.

Referring to Vemula's suicide, she said that as he was an Ambedkarite, he should have looked at the struggles of the great leader who faced them strongly and did not think of committing suicide despite all odds.

"I want to tell all to take inspiration from Ambedkar and face challenges like him," she said.

Mayawati also accused Congress of using Jagjivan Ram, Dalit stalwart of his time, against Ambedkar.

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