Rahul salvo on Maya invites Gadkari ire

The BJP has come forward in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s defence, who was recently accused by Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi of siphoning away Centre’s funds meant for the poor.

“When Gandhi tours Uttar Pradesh, he says the elephant eats money in the state. But I think the panja (palm) is taking away from people’s pockets,” said BJP President Nitin Gadkari.

The elephant is the party symbol of Mayawati’s BSP, and the open hand, or the palm, belongs to the Congress. Although the BJP leadership has stated the party is not going to forge an alliance with any political party in 2012 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, senior leaders said the decision is ‘limited’ to the state elections and not for 2014 general elections.

If Mayawati emerges as the single largest party after the state elections, the thinking in a section of the BJP is to help the BSP form the government and participate in the government.

During a recent public meeting in Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi had accused Mayawati of corruption in the National Rural Health Mission in which the Union government had transferred Rs 3,000 crore to the state. The Congress leader had said the “elephant doesn’t eat grass in Uttar Pradesh.”

Gadkari blamed the UPA government for the economic slowdown in the country. He asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to lead by example and show the world how to live on Rs 26 a day in rural areas and Rs 32 in urban areas.

The Planning Commission had said in an affidavit to the Supreme Court that urban dwellers spending more than Rs 32 a day and rural people spending more than Rs 26 a day would not be eligible to get the benefits of government schemes meant for those living below the poverty line.