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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

[ZESTCaste] 'Kushwaha will help us expose Maya'

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-10/lucknow/30611510_1_bjp-kalyan-singh-bsp

'Kushwaha will help us expose Maya'
TNN Jan 10, 2012, 05.44AM IST

LUCKNOW: In the hot seat since he welcomed a sheepish Babusingh
Kushwaha three days ago, BJP vice-president Vinay Katiyar has known no
peace.

The din about the "sell-out aided by UP leaders" - even though the
party has suspended the membership of the tainted former BSP minister
- seems to be getting louder by the day. First, Kalyan Singh and now
AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has publicly alleged that Maya's
pointsman paid his way into the BJP.

However, the veteran leader from Ayodhya knows how to catch and throw
back the brickbats coming his way. "I have faced worst during the
Janambhoomi andolan ... this is tame stuff comparatively," he tells
Manajari Mishra, before he patiently explains how the set-a-thief- to-
catch-a -thief bid will shake and stir election ...

Q. What prompted the BJP to adopt Kushwaha? A senior leader, you must
have known that taking in one of the most corrupt faces in Mayawati
cabinet would lead to major tremors within the party and also among
voters. What was the compulsion?

I am a disciplined soldier of the BJP. If given a task, I try to carry
it out with the best of my ability. So once the party decided to
induct Kushwaha, I carried out the orders. I can't be faulted on this.

Q. Were you not aware that muck would fly once Kushwaha gained entry
into BJP, a party with a difference, as it likes to be called. BJP
today has become a laughing stock.

Ans. I won't say that. Let some days pass ... just wait for a
fortnight and then see how dramatically the scenario changes. Kuswaha
is just a mean to reach Maya's jugular. The man is extremely useful.
Even Lord Ram with all his divine might could not have slain the demon
king Ravana had his estranged brother Vibhishana not tipped him about
the secret of Ravan's longevity. Kushwaha will provide us the most
vital clues to nail Maya which CBI, under instruction from Congress,
would love to sweep under the carpet. I would request BJP supporters
to show some patience.

Q. Do you have any reason to suspect the CBI, or your allegations
against the investigating agency are part of the usual poll-time
rhetoric?

A. If CBI were actually impartial, it would have started with chief
minister Mayawati who by virtue of her office happened to be the
chairperson of NRHM; it would have gone after senior IAS officers who
signed files to help state-sponsored swindling. Why are the prime
suspects off the hook? Why are they targeting smaller fry and letting
off the big fish?

Q. Kushwha episode has provided your political rivals enough
ammunition against the party. Kalyan Singh and Rahul Gandhi have
slammed the BJP for the Kushwaha sell-out. Both leaders have publicly
alleged that Kushwaha paid his way into the party.

A. Kalyan Singh ji is my old colleague who enjoyed a high stature in
BJP once . Therefore, I would not like to comment on him. But, Rahul
must first look at his own men and women before pointing fingers. Let
him talk about the kickback taken by Sheila Dixit and Raja first.

Q. From supporting Mayawatii three times in UP to making her the prime
target, BJP has come a long way indeed. What has brought about such a
drastic change?

Ans. Primarily her corruption and incompetence. Over the past five
years, Mayawati has arm-twisted and milked her ministers to make a
pile. And though by dropping ministers and MLAs she is pretending to
purge her party, we know she is only replacing the used ones with a
fresh bunch with better paying capacity. I tell you, Mayawati needs to
be exposed. And this is where Kushwaha will come handy.

Q. But how about the demoralized cadre you face now? No one is happy.
Senior leaders like Maneka Gandhi, Yogi Adityanath etc have gone on
record with their dissent.

A. Many senior characters in Mahabharata had to go through trying
phase. It happens. But everyone will come around ... they already
have. As I said, BJP is a disciplined party. So there actually is no
problem. All this news about rift within the party is a sponsored
propaganda which deserves to be ignored.

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[ZESTCaste] With just one day to go, covering up statues of Mayawati, elephant begins

http://www.ndtv.com/article/assembly-polls/with-just-one-day-to-go-covering-up-statues-of-mayawati-elephant-begins-165311

With just one day to go, covering up statues of Mayawati, elephant begins

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: January 10, 2012 17:34 IST

Noida/Lucknow: They have been given time till 5 pm on Wednesday by
the Election Commission and UP's jumbo cover-up operation has only
just begun. Authorities in Lucknow and Noida have started draping
giant statues of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and the
elephant, the symbol of her Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) in pink -
plastic for the elephants, cloth for Mayawati.

Most of Monday was spent on working out finer details like which
agency will have the honour of covering up the many stone elephants
and 11 massive Mayawati statues across the state; and in strategy
sessions to decide what colour the plastic used should be. Pink won.

Work began late also because the height of these structures make the
veiling a gigantic task. In Lucknow alone, there are nine Mayawati
statues and 25 elephants along with innumerable elephant-shaped door
handles, Mayawati pillars, the Mayawati chakra, and elephant fountains
of different shapes and sizes. Till late on Monday, the authorities
were still figuring out from where they should begin this
'elephantine' task.

"We are still discussing who will do it," said Arvind Trivedi, the
General Manager of the Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nagar Nigam on Monday. On
Sunday, the Noida Authority ran out of plastic to cover the statues,
after which some 1,500 metres of it was ordered to avoid further
embarrassment. The Noida park, unveiled with considerable fanfare only
a few months ago by the chief minister, has two Mayawatis and 52
elephants that will need draping.

The Election Commission's order to cover up the statues ahead of the
assembly polls has sparked off a debate with many political parties,
including Mayawati's rivals, saying they are bewildered by the order.
JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav, who is also the convenor of the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) which includes the BJP, the fourth political
angle in the UP elections, said, "We don't know on whose advice this
decision has been taken. Those are statues and especially the
elephants; you go anywhere in India, you go to Khajuraho, Konark,
elephants will look like elephants...These are nonsensical talks even
if Congress says so or Mayawati says so. This is utter nonsense."

And the BSP's SC Mishra asked, "Will the Election Commission also ban
the cycle during the elections in the state?" The bicycle is the
symbol of Mayawati's archrival Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party.

The Election Commission has defended its decision, saying this is to
ensure free and fair elections, but many have expressed skepticism
over whether it will achieve its purpose. "A covered Mayawati statue
will get more attention than an uncovered one. People will say, 'Oh
that is Mayawati's statue covered,'" tweeted actor Anupam Kher. And
author Chetan Bhagat said, "Either you don't let them erect statues
first place, or let them be. Poor people need blankets more than the
statues need drapes. Doesn't draping the elephant statues in Lucknow
bring even more attention to them?"

"I think those who want to draw inspiration from it have been doing it
for that long, you think they will forget it in the next two months,
and the people of UP are smart voters," said Ranjana Shukla, a
tourist at the Lucknow memorial.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/assembly-polls/with-just-one-day-to-go-covering-up-statues-of-mayawati-elephant-begins-165311&cp

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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati's assets: Highest at Rs.87 crore

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/mayawatis-assets-highest-rs87-crore-582

Mayawati's assets: Highest at Rs.87 crore

January 10, 2012
IANS
Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati tops the list of chief ministers
in the five election-bound states with maximum assets worth Rs.87
crore and 46 per cent of her ministers have criminal cases pending
against them, according to data released Tuesday by an NGO and a
non-political organisation.

"RTI responses from five states showed Mayawati has the highest assets
at Rs.87 crore," said the data.

"Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh has the lowest assets at
just Rs.6 lakh."

Around one-third of a total of 100 ministers in the five states of
Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur have self-declared
pending criminal charges, showed the data.

NGO National Election Watch and non-political organisation Association
for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released the data on the basis of a study
linked to RTI responses by state governments.

Punjab's Parkash Singh Badal is the only chief minister who has got a
criminal case, related to cheating and forgery, against him, said the
study. He has assets worth Rs.9 crore, according to the study.

In comparison, Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri has assets
worth Rs.1.69 crore and his Goa counterpart Digambar Kamat has assets
worth Rs.3.2 crore.

All five chief ministers are graduates. Khanduri is a post-graduate.

According to the report, Uttar Pradesh has the maximum percentage of
ministers (46 per cent) with pending criminal cases.

Of these, 30 per cent ministers have serious criminal cases like
murder and attempt to murder against them.

Punjab has 39 percent ministers with pending criminal cases followed
by 33 per cent in Uttarakhand and 8 per cent in Goa. No Manipur
minister is facing criminal cases.

Similarly, out of the 690 legislators analysed, 190 have criminal
cases against them. Out of these, 89 had serious charges against them.

Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 143 such law makers while Punjab
has 20, Uttarakhand 17, Goa 9 in Goa and Manipur one.

According to the report, 239 of 690 legislators in the five states
have assets running into crores of rupees, with Punjab having the
maximum 67 per cent, followed by Goa 55 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 32 per
cent, Uttarakhand 16 per cent and Manipur 2 per cent.