LUCKNOW, March 5: The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday defeated a no-confidence vote which came after she was caught on camera demanding that MPs give a cut of their shady earnings to her BSP party.
The speaker of the house Kesrinath Tripathi announced that the motion against Chief Minister Mayawati had been defeated.
Earlier in the day legislators fought each other with fists and microphones over the issue.
Tripathi said the 402-member Uttar Pradesh state assembly was adjourned until further notice.
Mayawati is facing accusations of scouting for dirty money from corrupt politicians after the release of a tape where she is seen cajoling BSP leaders into parting with a slice of their slush money.
The issue also plunged the national parliament into turmoil Wednesday, as Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani defended Mayawati, saying he had a document with names of opposition politicians who also earned illegal funds.
Mayawati’s 107 regional BSP party legislators are dependent on 87 members of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s BJP party to remain in power in Uttar Pradesh, which is also India’s most politically strategic state.
Sixteen members from two other regional parties and 12 independent lawmakers also support Mayawati’s government.
In an uncharacteristic move, Vajpayee came to the defence of Mayawati but refused to unveil the document in Advani’s possession.
“This letter should not go on records because it is not necessary that every letter goes on record. Some must be consigned also to memory,” a visibly-agitated Vajpayee said amid an opposition-led din in parliament.
The BJP party, which has faced a string of electoral defeats in recent state polls, cannot afford Mayawati’s government to collapse in Uttar Pradesh, which returns 85 MPs to parliament’s 545-seat elected lower house.
Advani in parliament Wednesday said Mayawati recently told him that the video tape recording was made in 2001 when she was not the elected head of Uttar Pradesh.
The tape shows Mayawati ordering BSP parliamentarians and state lawmakers to give her some of the kickbacks they allegedly earn from a one million-rupee annual fund they are each given for development projects.
“Honest and dishonest MPs both get a portion of the funds in bribes and I ask you not to swallow it entirely, give something to the party,” said the video-taped comments broadcast by TV channels.
The origin of the tape is unknown but it was unveiled by former defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, a sworn political enemy of Mayawati.
India’s main opposition Congress party, which aspires to grab power in Uttar Pradesh, is also sniping at Mayawati, knowing her downfall will boot out the BJP from power in the provincial capital Lucknow.
—AFP