Mayawati neck deep in corruption, says UP Minister

Lucknow: Following news reports that he lavished praise on Mayawati, senior Uttar Pradesh government minister Swami Prasad Maurya clarified today he had only pointed to a similarity in the approach towards law and order of the present regime and the one led by the BSP chief, who he alleged was "neck deep in corruption".

As reports about Maurya, a former BSP leader, lauding Mayawati led to many eye brows being raised, the minister insisted he had been "quoted out of context".

"I had said that there is similarity between Mayawati and Adityanath. She wanted that rule of law should be established in the state, we also want that the rule of law be established in the state. We want there should be good governance, she also wanted good governance. There is only one difference that Mayawati was neck deep in corruption, while Adityanath is contributing in making India corruption free," he sought to clarify.

Earlier, there were reports that the minister had said there would have been no need for a CBI probe in the Unnao case if the police had done its bit as he lavished praise on BSP leader Mayawati's role as an administrator when she was the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

"Had the people got justice from the local police, the matter would not have escalated so far and there would not have been the need for a CBI probe," Maurya reportedly said when asked about the Unnao case in which BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar is an accused.

However, the CBI probe will unmask the guilty, he said.

Replying to another question, he lauded BSP chief Mayawati's regime saying it was "good" and there were no second thoughts about it.

"She was famous as a strict administrator and much better than the Samajwadi Party government. The government of Yogi Adityanath is also much better than the SP government," the UP labour minister reportedly said when asked about the law and order situation in UP as compared to the time when Mayawati was at the helm.

However, Maurya, who was cabinet minister during the previous BSP and the SP regimes, said today he was quoted out of context by the media.

Maurya, 64, had quit the BSP accusing Mayawati of "auctioning party tickets" when she objected to fielding him as well as his son and daughter in the 2017 elections.