New Delhi, July 30: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan today defended Culture Minister Jagmohan on the Taj issue as he accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of paying for construction of the corridor project and then staging a "drama to escape blame for it". "Mayawati sanctioned Rs 17 crore to a private firm for the corridor project violating all rules and after a CBI probe was ordered on direction of the supreme court, she staged a drama to escape blame," Paswan alleged while leading a rally and march to parliament of the youth wing of his party here.
He ridiculed Mayawati for first demanding Jagmohan's resignation and then meeting Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to "save herself". Defending Jagmohan's role in the whole episode, he told reporters that "he is an honest man. It is sad that the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister did not defend him," Paswan said.
Paswan, who also courted arrest, said the objective of today's rally was to demand that "right to work" be made a fundamental right. He charged the BJP-led government with being "more worried about houses for two gods than about houses for people," apparently referring to the Ayodhya issue.
Claiming that the government had raised "Rs 40,000 crore by selling off state assets", he demanded that the amount be used for employment generation.
A resolution demanding "right to work" as fundamental right was passed at the meeting of the youth wing. Bureau Report