Allegations about widespread corruption in the Mayawati regime abound, but the opposition on Monday dropped a bombshell by claiming to have recorded on tape Uttar Pradesh chief minister demanding bribes from her own party legislators and MPs.
Samajwadi Party legislators handed over to Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri a video cassette and a CD, which they said contained evidence of Mayawati demanding 'cuts' out of the annual constituency fund allocated to her BSP MPs and legislators.
"We have urged the governor to watch the recordings and get a criminal case registered against the chief minister, who deserves to be dismissed," Ambika Chaudhary, the Samajwadi Party deputy leader in the state assembly, told mediapersons shortly after submitting a memorandum to the governor.
"The recordings show Mayawati blatantly telling her party legislators to shell out 50 per cent of the money that they siphoned out of their constituency fund," Chaudhary said.
"I am aware that you people are siphoning away anything between Rs 500,000 and Rs two million (Rs 20 lakh) out of your constituency fund. But you must remember that 50 per cent of this must come to Mayawati," the chief minister is believed to be telling the legislators.
The memorandum was signed by five SP MLAs - Shiv Pal Singh Yadav, Ambika Chaudhary, Om Prakash Singh, Chandra Bhadra Singh and Balram Yadav.
They claimed that the recordings clearly showed the UP chief minister asking the MLAs to promptly hand over Rs 200,000 each as the first installment towards the party fund.
The SP legislators propose to release copies of the cassette and CD to the media over the next few days and hope to gradually build a case for dismissal of the Mayawati government.
The memorandum accuses the chief minister of forcing government officials to cough up money for her party adding that 'the chief minister could be pilfering out of the billions that are at her command in the form of the state exchequer'.
