New Delhi, Oct 09: Barely 24 hours after it filed an FIR against former UP chief minister Mayawati in the infamous Taj Corridor case, CBI sleuths searched her properties across UP and also her official residence in New Delhi early this morning.

A stunned Mayawati and her aides watched as CBI officials, looking for clues and evidence to nail her in the Taj case, rummaged through everything they came across. Simultaneous searches were conducted at 21 other establishments in Delhi, Lucknow and other parts of Uttar Pradesh. The CBI also registered a case of possession of assets disproportionate to her income and will probe the assets acquired between April, 1995 and August 29, 2003. This was the period when Mayawati held office of UP CM and was an MLA and MP.


Fuming, Mayawati called the press after her official residence was searched and hit out: ‘‘The Prime Minister and BJP will regret the action and pay for it. I will ensure Vajpayee sits on his chair for the last time. They are putting political pressure on me to align with them in the Assembly elections. They will pay heavily for the attempts to tarnish my image and that of my people and party. I will ensure they lose all the states.’’


Mayawati insists she is a victim in because she had declared all her assets when she filed her I-T returns and the CBI was aware of the matter.
‘‘This morning, the CBI found nothing. No jewels, no incriminating documents. Instead, they took away Rs 5.5 lakh my party workers had collected from poor Dalits to pay for Kanshi Ramji’s medical bills (who is critically ill and in hospital). The Prime Minister will not have a happy end,’’ she said ominously.

She, in turn, accused the PM and his kin of acquiring properties disproportionate to their income and demanded an independent inquiry into their assests.
‘‘Have you wondered how the PM’s foster daughter and son-in-law have overnight acquired properties in prominent places, including a hotel in Nainital? They were ordinary folks before Vajpayee became PM,’’ she shot back. (Terming as ‘‘baseless’’ Mayawati’s allegations that he was responsible for the CBI searches, Vajpayee said he was ‘‘saddened’’ by these charges, reports PTI from Bali.

‘‘Whatever our political differences may be, I am very saddened by these allegations...The CBI does not work under the government and is an autonomous body,’’ Vajpayee told reporters.)

Mayawati refused to reply to question of a pre-poll alliance with the Congress. Instead, she beckoned straining cameras to follow her to her backyard to look at the garbage bin where the CBI had dumped and piled remanants of their morning’s work.
‘‘Look, at the mess they have created,’’ she cried, pointing to a pile of shredded paper and crushed flowers before bolting to her house and firmly shutting the door.
Meanwhile, the CBI rejected outright the charge that the search was ‘‘politically motivated,’’ saying it was ‘‘legal and professional.’’ CBI Director, PC Sharma, himself addressed the media: ‘‘These allegations are totally baseless and unfounded. I take this opportunity to dispel any misgivings that any extraneous force was behind the two cases,’’ referring to the searches against Mayawati and the chargesheet filed by the investigating agency against Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi.

To the question on Mayawati’s claim that Rs. 5.5 lakh meant for Kanshi Ram’s medical treatment was seized by the CBI, Sharma said, ‘‘We have nothing to do with it. They can approach the court and take back the money.’’