Maya wants Jagmohan demolished

‘‘An explanation should be sought from the minister and he should be dismissed immediately or else my party will rake up the issue in Parliament to expose the political conspiracy behind the minister’s attempt to put all the blame on the UP government for the construction near the Taj,’’ said a visibly upset Mayawati at a hurriedly called press conference at her official residence.

She said she had also sent a letter to Prime Minister A B Vajpayee complaining that the statements of Jagmohan in the print and electronic media on the Taj controversy were clear indications that he was operating at the behest of her political rivals to sour the relations between the Centre and the state.

‘‘I have a few questions for the minister about his frequent claims that he and his ministry were not aware of the construction near Taj and that he ordered immediate stopping of the construction the moment he got information about it,’’ she said.

‘‘What was the ASI — its office is just half-a-kilometre from Taj — doing for so many months since the construction had started on December 3, 2002? Kya woh Kumbhkarn ki neend so rahe the? (Were they sleeping like Kumbhakaran?) Shouldn’t Jagmohan have written to me and kept the PM abreast when (if ASI is to be believed) it was said that the UP government officials at the site were not paying heed to objections by the ASI?’’ she asked.

Reacting to her diatribe in New Delhi, Jagmohan said: ‘‘We will wait for a month for the CBI to finish its investigation and submit its report to the SC. The truth will be known then.’’

Asked to react to Mayawati’s allegation that he knew about the construction, he said: ‘‘I have nothing to say about that. You know the truth very well. You know the entire case. I don’t know what Mayawati has written to the Prime Minister and I can’t react to it.’’

He added: ‘‘The ASI had objected to the unauthorised construction and even lodged an FIR. There are records of all this. (ASI had filed its first FIR on April 24-25). Union Minister for Environment and Forests T R Baalu and I had even issued a statement in Parliament sometime back stating that no money had been sanctioned by either of the union ministries for the project.’’

And she was in mood to answer any questions after this monologue. ‘‘Sab tumko bata doongi to CBI ko kya bataoongi (If I tell you everything, what will I tell the CBI),’’ she retorted when asked about the contents of the inquiry ordered by her in June on the issue.

She said it was surprising that when the Taj issue was before the Supreme Court — which had asked the CBI to complete its investigation within two months — Jagmohan had been coming out with statements almost daily that neither he nor his ministry was aware of any construction job at the site.

She reiterated that the moment she was informed about the construction, she suspended a senior official (principal secretary, environment, R.K.Sharma) and ordered an inquiry to ensure that the guilty are punished. ‘‘Kya Shree Jagmohan ne kisi ASI adhikari ko suspend kiya? (Has Mr Jagmohan suspended any ASI official?’’ she asked. ‘‘Jagmohan is trying to give the impression that only he and his ministry are concerned about protecting Taj and that the state govt was totally unconcerned about it. It’s wrong to infer this since my government — and Jagmohan knows it — had gone for tree plantation in the vicinity of the Taj to improve the environment around it,’’ she wrote in the letter sent to the PM.