Mayawati says money in BSP bank accounts legal, accuses BJP of working with vendetta

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday attacked the BJP government at the Centre, a day after the Enforcement Directorate detected cash deposits totalling over Rs 104 crore in an account belonging to her party and Rs 1.43 crore in another belonging to party her brother, Anand.

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday played the Dalit card while attacking the BJP government at the Centre, a day after the Enforcement Directorate detected cash deposits totalling over Rs 104 crore in an account belonging to her party and Rs 1.43 crore in another belonging to her brother, Anand.

Addressing a press briefing in the Uttar Pradesh capital, BSP chief Mayawati said, ''BSP has always followed rules and procedure to deposit its money in banks.''

I have been in UP since August 31 and collected money through donations. The money was collected before demonetisation, she added.

Accusing the BJP of anti-Dalit mentality, she said, ''The ruling party does not want me to become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh that's why it is conspiring to defame me and my party.''

Casteist forces don’t want a Dalit woman to come ín power, she said.  BJP is clearly misusing the state machinery to malign the name of my party. My younger brother Anand has his own business and deposited money in bank accounts according to the I-T rules, she stated.

The BSP chief also came down heavily on a section of media saying, ''the BJP-managed channels and newspapers blew the matter out of proportion.''

She also dared the BJP to explain how much money did it deposit in banks before November 8 (the day demonetisation was announced).

Money deposited by other parties in bank never comes up for discussion.  I have faith in the people of Uttar Pradesh. They will support the BSP despite the allegations, she opined.

The BJP and company have been harassing us since 2007, but this will not have any impact, she thundered at the press briefing.

BJP is shaken and has hatched a disgusting conspiracy against BSP and my family, she added.

The BSP supremo also accused the BJP of giving an impetus to a possible Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance for next year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

The reactions from the BSP chief came hours after the ED officials said they visited the Karol Bagh branch of the United Bank of India and found huge deposits made in these two accounts after demonetisation. 

Officials said the agency, Enforcement Directorate, as part of its routine survey and enquiry operations to check suspicious and huge cash deposits in banks, visited the Karol Bagh branch of the UBI on Monday and found huge deposits made in these two accounts post-demonetisation.

They said the sleuths called for the records of the deposits made in the  BSP account and found that while  Rs 102 crore was deposited in Rs 1,000 notes, the rest Rs 3 crore was deposited  in the old Rs 500 notes.

Officials said they were were astonished to find huge cash of about Rs 15-17 crore being desposited every other day.

The agency also detected another account in the same branch belonging to Anand, brother of BSP chief Mayawati, where a total of Rs 1.43 crore funds was found.  A sum of 18.98 lakh came into account using the old notes after the ban.

The ED also sought full details about the two accounts from the bank even as it is understood that the agency will write to the Income Tax department which has the powers to go into the legality of donations and contributions made to political parties.

The ED also reportedly asked the bank to provide to it CCTV footage and KYC documents used to open the accounts.

With regard to Anands's accounts, it is understood, that the agency will soon issue notices to him and also intimate the I-T sleuths for investigation under anti-tax evasion laws.

The agency has been carrying out enquiry operations at over 50 bank branches to check possible instances of hawala dealings and money laundering after the government scrapped the two high value currencies of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 on November 8.