Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Friday likened herself to South African leader Nelson Mandela and said though she was convinced of her innocence in the Taj heritage corridor case, she was not afraid of going to jail in connection with the case.
"Mandela, a social reformer, spent several years in the jail for a noble cause against apartheid. Likewise, I am also not scared of going to jail if charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation, as my people would always stand behind me," Mayawati said addressing party workers from across the country after inaugurating the Bahujan Samaj 'Prerna Kendra' in Lucknow.
However, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said if indeed she was lodged in jail, the entire 'Bahujan Samaj' would fill the prisons of the country in protest.
Alleging that the CBI followed "double standards" in the case by registering two first information reports against her and only one against the other accused, she claimed that the project was sanctioned under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state and she had only approved a sum of Rs 17 crore for it and not Rs 175 crore as was being projected.
"While the BJP took the CBI's and the judiciary's help to falsely implicate me in the case, the subsequent Congress-led government was no better and wants to put me in a constant trap in the matter," she alleged.
