If on Monday Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati wore a multi-crore pink garland made of currency notes of
Rs. 1,000 at the silver jubilee rally of the Bahujan Samaj Party, on Wednesday she wore one that was blue-and-yellow with tinges of pink. It was made of currency notes of the denominations
of
Rs. 100 and
Rs. 500, with a sprinkling of notes of
Rs. 1,000.
Clearly undeterred by the opposition’s attack for accepting a garland made of currency notes at the BSP rally, Mayawati had no qualms about accepting a garland – albeit a smaller one – worth Rs. 18 lakh at a function at the party headquarters in the state capital.
Not only did she accept the garland, she went to the extent of thanking her political rivals and the media for highlighting the issue. “Their criticism has rejuvenated the cadres. They have launched a donation drive in each assembly segment,” she is reported to have told BSP MPs and MLAs at Wednesday’s meeting.
BSP general secretary and state PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui said that from now on, party workers all over the country would welcome their supremo with currency garlands at BSP functions.
In New Delhi, the Congress slammed the new currency garland culture in the BSP. Party general secretary Digvijay Singh said, “It is a brazen show of wealth, a brazen show of corruption, a brazen show of how money is being collected through an organised network of criminals centralised at the Chief Minister’s residence.”
“The BSP is extracting money from miners, public works department, the Noida Authority and the public distribution system in the name of raising party funds,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “This is a violation of basic norms of democracy. If she really cares for the Dalits, then the money should be spent on their education, health and development.”
With inputs from HTC, Delhi