Mayawati's money garland controversy

The furore over Mayawati's mala reached the Lok Sabha. The Samajwadi Party has demanded a CBI inquiry into the gigantic garland made of thousands of thousand-rupee notes that was bestowed upon the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister at a huge rally in Lucknow.

The Income Tax department will probe the source of funding and ownership of the money for the garland made of currency notes. The department will check the source of the money estimated to be between Rs 10 to Rs 20 crore, sources said. The probe will be carried out by the IT department in Lucknow as the venue of the function where Mayawati was presented the garland falls under the jurisdiction of the said directorate. Sources said the I-T department will probe the origin of the Rs 1,000 notes, the bank they have been sourced from and the bank account holder/holder's identity. The 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 Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) anniversary.

BJP said if Congress was serious in its criticism of the BSP chief, then it should announce that it did not require the support extended by BSP to the ruling alliance at the Centre.

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court asking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the expenses by the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on March 15 to mark the 25th anniversary of the party. The PIL has been filed by three lawyers, who alleged that about Rs 175 crores was spent in the rally and around Rs 25 crores on the garland that was presented to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supreme Mayawati.