Akhilesh talks tough but goes soft on Mayawati’s corruption

One of the major election promises of the ruling party was setting up a commission to probe corruption of the previous regime. In the 100 days that the SP government has been in power,it has not even identified a judge to head the commission. Instead,it has been busy tweaking and renaming the schemes of the previous government in order to put its own stamp on them.

The most obvious example of the SP government’s soft-pedalling is the contrast between its utterances and actions on memorials and parks. The Chief Minister has alleged a scandal to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore,but has done nothing to unearth the truth. This is notwithstanding the fact that construction of these parks and memorials requires an investigation to bring out how rules and laws were thrown to the wind.

All that the government has done is to write a letter to Lokayukta N K Mehrotra,asking him to probe alleged financial irregularities in the supply and purchase of sandstone,which was only a small part of the racket. And while doing so,it forgot that the Lokayukta has no power to investigate private individuals.

Similarly,the government refused to order a probe into spending of as much as Rs 86 crore by the previous BSP government on the construction and renovation of the bungalow which former Mayawati occupies as former CM. The issue came up in the Assembly in reply to a question by SP MLA Ravidas Malhotra. The government ruled out an inquiry,saying there was no complaint of financial irregularities. At the same time,it said the expenditure was not audited.

Ironically,the huge amount spent on the bungalow had come into the public domain through a reply given to PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav in response to his RTI application. Though the minister had submitted his application during the Mayawati regime,he got the information only after the change of government.

A matter in which the state government did a U-turn was the sale of 21 sugar mills,allegedly at throwaway prices,by the previous regime. When in Opposition,the SP had promised an inquiry into the sale. A CAG report highlighted several irregularities and how rules were bent to help handpicked firms to get these mills. But the government said in the Assembly that it has no plan to probe the matter.

No different is the story of the allotment of farmhouses in Noida by the Mayawati regime,which the SP government had described as a “big scam”. More than a month after ordering a “preliminary inquiry”,and asking for a report within a week,the matter has reportedly been hushed up for mysterious reasons.

Last year,the Local Fund Audit had pointed out several violations of rules and procedures in the allotment of farmhouses. It had said there was no transparency in allotments and the land had been given away cheap,causing a loss of Rs 145 crore to the exchequer.

In the manifesto,the SP had promised to strengthen the office of the Lokayukta by making it a multi-member body. Although it lost no time in taking a decision to extend the tenure of the retiring Lokayukta from six years to eight years,there is no concrete move to make the office of Lokayukta a multi-member body,or to increase its power and bring the Economic Investigation Wing of the police under its control,as was promised in the manifesto.

Rather,in an amendment to the UP Lokayukta and Deputy Lokayukta Act,the SP government has added a provision to impose a fine of up to Rs 50,000 in case a false complaint is lodged against any public servant with the Lokayukta.