New Delhi, March 16: UP chief minister Mayawati’s garland of currency notes worth crores of rupees rocked the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and forced the income-tax department to begin investigating the matter.

The Lok Sabha had to be adjourned twice in the first half of the day as Congress, BJP and Samajwadi Party members attacked the BSP supremo for wearing a huge garland, said to be worth crores of rupees, at a public rally in Uttar Pradesh on Monday and disrupted House proceedings.  As chaos continued, deputy speaker Kariya Munda adjourned the House till after the recess, to April 12.
“We want a CBI probe into the source of the money used in the garland,” said Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The income-tax department will investigate the funding and ownership of currency notes, sources said. The I-T department has also asked its intelligence wing to gather information in this regard, including the funding of the entire event that took place to celebrate the BSP’s silver jubilee. The I-T department will also probe the genuineness of the currency notes, which could be seized for the purpose, the sources said.
The Samajwadi members said the estimated value of the garland made of Rs 1,000 currency notes presented to the UP chief minister at her rally in Lucknow could range between Rs 10 crores to Rs 15 crores.
The Congress termed it as “organised loot” in Uttar Pradesh.
BSP members present in the Lok Sabha tried to counter the combined political onslaught from the Congress and the SP, but their voices couldn’t be heard in the din. Defending his leader, BSP MP Vijay Bahadur Singh said: “If I garland you, then what is your mistake in it? People are ready to even sacrifice their lives for Mayawati, so what can we do about this? This is their dedication towards their leader.”
Outside Parliament, meanwhile, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh remarked that Ms Mayawati was “no more a dalit ki beti, but daulat ke beti (no more the daughter of a dalit, but that of wealth),” referring to the garland of Rs 1,000 currency notes presented to her.
BJP MP Rajnath Singh said the state machinery in Uttar Pradesh had been misused by the ruling BSP for the lavish celebrations, and this too should be looked into.

Age Correspondent