BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday accused the BJP-led Government of misusing CBI after the agency decided to question her in connection with the `10,000 crore NRHM scam in Uttar Pradesh nearly four years after it surfaced. She said the move smacked of “political vendetta.”
The CBI is likely to question her this week either at the agency headquarters here or at its lucknow office.
Rejecting Mayawati’s contentions, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters,
“CBI does its work on the basis of proofs. There is no need to draw any other
conclusion (from the agency’s actions).”
CBI Director Anil Sinha, on his part, said the agency will proceed as per requirement in the NRHM scam probe.
“The agency will proceed as per the demand of the investigation,” Sinha told the reporters without elaborating on the necessity of grilling Mayawati after filing 48 chargesheets in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam.
Claiming innocence, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said the CBI was free to investigate her and that she would not be cowed down.
Questioning the timing of the CBI investigation against her, she said the move against her was an attempt to “demoralise” her party and divert attention from the “failure” of the government to fulfil its promises made to the people.
“I have no connection with the NRHM scam. BJP, which is trying to use CBI, should give up such tactics as such attempts have cost them dearly earlier,” she told reporters here.