Lucknow/New Delhi: A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sniffed out more than Rs104 crore deposited in her party's account after demonetisation, BSP supremo Mayawati said a "Dalit's daughter" was being barred from political power in Uttar Pradesh through the "misuse" of official machinery.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back, saying championing the cause of the Dalits does not entitle anyone to indulge in corruption. Addressing a press conference yesterday in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, Mayawati said: "The anti-Dalit BJP and all those having a casteist mentality do not want that a 'Dalit ki beti' (Dalit's daughter) should get the master key of power in Uttar Pradesh."
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of using the official machinery to malign the BSP ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
Mayawati, a former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, said the money deposited in her party's account was not black money and was collected by her party workers over the last few months. She said the said money was collected by party workers as donations and then converted into big denomination notes as it is "convenient" to carry such currency.
"The money belongs to the party, which has been deposited following due procedures. Every penny of this money is accounted for," she said.
