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Indian minister in row over garland of currency notes http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/314319,indian-minister-in-row-over-garland-of-currency-notes.html

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New Delhi - A massive garland stitched with 1,000-rupee (22-dollar) notes has landed Mayawati, chief minister of India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, in trouble, news reports said Tuesday. Opposition parties are demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into where the money for the garland - alleged to be worth several million rupees - came from. Mayawati was presented the garland Monday at a rally in Uttar Pradesh's capital, Lucknow, to mark the 25th anniversary of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which represents low-caste Hindus and whose name means "society of the majority" in Hindi. Television channels kept zooming onto the garland, which party sources quoted by the Asian Age newspaper said was made up of notes worth 50 million rupees. A spokesman for the BSP, however, was quoted by the NDTV news channel as saying the garland was actually worth 2 million rupees because it had the 1,000-rupee notes on the outside and lower denomination notes below it. The Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament, was adjourned midday Tuesday as rival party lawmakers questioned the extravagance of the BSP leader, claiming the garland was a small part of Monday's 2-billion-rupee celebration. Shivpal Singh Yadav, senior leader of the Samajwadi Party, the BSP's main rival in Uttar Pradesh, alleged the money for the garland had been amassed through corrupt means and demanded a bureau investigation, the PTI news agency reported from Lucknow. Akhilesh Singh, leader of the Congress Party in Uttar Pradesh, said agencies like the Reserve Bank of India and the Income Tax Department should find out from where the money had come. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Hriday Narain Dixit said the garland episode was one more example of the BSP's attempt to institutionalize corruption and demanded a clarification from the chief minister. Mayawati's critics accuse her of amassing personal wealth and wasting public funds on ostentatious projects in a poorly developed state. A court recently passed an order forbidding Mayawati's government from constructing statues of her and other Dalit leaders with state funds. Mayawati, who has been criticized for wearing silks and diamonds and receiving expensive gifts and funds on her birthday said people point a finger at her because she is a Dalit who has money. Dalits, or former untouchables, form the lowest rung of India's caste system and have faced discrimination for centuries. Mayawati said her appearance and the celebrations instil confidence and a sense of empowerment among her followers. Chief minister of populous Uttar Pradesh since 2007, Mayawati has made no secret of her ambitions to become India's first Dalit prime minister. Copyright DPA

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