With the two national parties, the Congress and the BJP, virtually marginalised in Uttar Pradesh, politics in the state has become a two-horse race involving the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Last week's recommendation by the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) to the Supreme Court that former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and five others be prosecuted in the Rs 175 crore Taj Heritage Corridor scam has come as a setback for the BSP chief who had been pursuing Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on alleged corruption scandals.

IN A SPOT OF TROUBLE: Mayawati

The CVC report has also come as an embarrassment for the UPA Government as Attorney-General Milon K. Banerjee had said there was not enough evidence to launch prosecution proceedings against Mayawati. Based on this, the director of the CBI decided in January this year not to proceed against her. Not accepting this stand, the apex court asked the CVC in March to scrutinise the CBI's material related to the investigation into the scam and submit a report.

Appearing on behalf of Mayawati, lawyer K.K. Venugopal questioned the authority of the CVC to recommend the prosecution of any person when the CBI and attorney-general had said otherwise. The court agreed to hear Mayawati and the others before giving any directions to the CBI. It also gave Mayawati's counsel a week to file a formal petition. Whether the former chief minister will face prosecution in court or not will be known only in the near future but the CVC recommendation has taken the steam out of her aggressive campaign against Mulayam's Government. With a view to cornering it on allegedly corrupt deals, Mayawati had raised questions about the sale of defunct sugar mills in the state to the private sector at a recent press conference in Lucknow. She alleged that huge commissions had been paid before the government-run sugar mills were handed over to the private sector. Mayawati had also demanded intervention of the Central Government to prevent the Uttar Pradesh Government from pursuing such policies in future.

TIMELINE

NOVEMBER 2002: Construction of Taj Heritage Corridor begins. MARCH 2003: Supreme Court issues notice to the Centre on the Taj corridor. JULY 2003: CBI asked to conduct a probe into the case. AUGUST 2003: Mayawati steps down as chief minister. JULY 2004: CBI's status report reveals that Mayawati has more assets than she can account for. JANUARY 2005: CBI gives clean chit to Mayawati.. MARCH 2005: Supreme Court orders probe by CVC. AUGUST 2005: CVC recommends Mayawati's prosecution.

The controversy over the Rs 175-crore Taj Heritage Corridor refuses to die down. It was during her tenure as chief minister in November 2002 that construction of a heritage corridor-including a shopping mall, restaurant and tourist complexes-was started near the Taj Mahal in a surreptitious manner. The corridor did not even have the clearance of the Centre under the Environment Protection Act. Mayawati also picked up a fight with the then Union minister for tourism and culture Jagmohan, alleging that he had been aware of the construction activities near the Taj Mahal. She demanded his removal and also took the issue to prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In 2003, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh and Central Governments, bringing to a halt the construction activities around the heritage monument. It also ordered the CBI to conduct an inquiry into the matter. Haunted by the controversy and the illegal manner in which Rs 17 crore was sanctioned for the project, a beleaguered Mayawati resigned from her post in August and recommended the dissolution of the state Assembly, which was rejected by the governor. Since then, the controversy has dogged Mayawati. About two months after she resigned, the CBI filed an fir against her and raided her residence.

In an attempt to divert attention from the issue, Mayawati has been playing the Dalit card, alleging that she was unfairly targeted. The BSP chief also put pressure on the UPA Government which seemed to have had some effect when the attorney-general recommended that the cases against her be dropped. Meanwhile, the CBI, which is investigating another case related to possession of assets disproportionate to her known sources of income, has completed its report. Mayawati's troubles are only likely to increase.

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