The manner in which Mayawati accepted high-currency garlands for the second time on March 17 has made it obvious that she is not bothered about the criticism her action has evoked.

It may be mentioned that Mayawati had accepted a huge garland made of currency notes of Rs 1000 denomination on March 15 during the maharally of her party in Lucknow which was attended by lakhs of party workers.

The entire opposition including Congress, Samajwadi Party and BJP stormed the Lok Sabha the next day, demanding a CBI inquiry into the garland episode.

Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav alleged that the first garland had currency notes worth Rs 51 crore.

Senior Congress leader and AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh asked the income tax department to inquire into the garland episode and said “Dalit ke beti Mayawati has now become daulat ki beti”.

Senior BJP leader and spokesman of BJP Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned the manner in which currency notes were used in place of flowers.

Rebutting the criticism, senior minister and close lieutenant of Mayawati, Nasimuddin Siddiqui said the garland given to the BSP supremo was worth only Rs 18 lakh. He went on to say that the party would give her more garlands if she so desired.

Political observers feel that the manner in which Mayawati has adopted an aggressive stand suits her politically.

Throughout her speech at the March 15 rally to celebrate the birth anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram, Mayawati charged the Congress with conspiring to finish off the BSP.

Mayawati also accused the Congress of hobnobbing with the Election Commission to get her party's symbol 'elephant' confiscated. She demanded that the symbol of Samajwadi Party 'cycle' and 'hand of the Congress should also be confiscated.

The tone and tenor of Mayawati's speech also made it clear that she perceives the Congress as her main rival in UP. Observers were surprised that in her speech, Mayawati made no mention of Samajwadi Party and BJP. Obviously, she dies not think that the two parties pose any threat to her in UP politics.

Having realised the growing influence of Rahul Gandhi among Dalits of UP and other parts of the country, Mayawati criticized the young Gandhi for visiting Dalit homes and sharing a meal with them. She termed the entire exercise as nothing but a show.

In an attempt to keep her Dalit vote bank intact, Mayawati defended the construction of statues worth crores and other memorials.

She said the Congress could not tolerate that a 'Dalit ke beti' should rule the state. In her speech, Mayawati thanked her “Dalit Samaj' for always giving her support especially in a crisis.

Aware that a large section of Dalits had become disciples of Baba Ram Dev, Mayawati has asked per party workers to keep away from religious leaders who had political interests.

The opposition has alleged that a huge sum of Rs 500 crore was spent on organizing the maharally. State Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the CBI and the income tax department should inquire into the blatant misuse of government funds for organizing the rally. Akhilesh said that there was no mention of Dalits, poor people and the minorities in Mayawati's speech, adding that it was as if she was not interested in their well-being.

State BJP president Ramapati Ram Tripathi said state government should issue a white paper on the use of government resources in the rally of BSP.

UPCC president Rita Bahuguna termed the rally as a circus where Mayawati was the ringmaster. Party spokesman Subodh Srivastav said even after spending crores of rupees, the rally was a big flop show as the turnout was very low. (IPA)