The Congress has accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of political vendetta against former bureaucrat and party MP from Barabanki, P.L. Punia.
Referring to the application filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate regarding the loan given to some investors during Mr. Punia's tenure as Managing Director of Pradeshiya Industrial Investment Corporation of UP (PICUP), UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said he was unnecessarily being targeted.
Mr. Punia headed the corporation from 1989 to 1991.
A case had been lodged on the issue of some investors being untraced and in the probe conducted by the Economic Offences Wing of UP, the bureaucrat's name had not figured in the FIR, or in the charge sheet, Dr. Joshi told reporters here.
She said Ms. Mayawati was unable to digest Mr. Punia's victory from Barabanki in the May 2009 Lok Sabha polls, which is why the case has been reopened. The UPCC president said the Congress has strong objections to the way Ms. Mayawati is proceeding against her political opponents.
Mr. Punia, who is a Dalit, accused the Chief Minister of trying to insert his name in the charge sheet. He said Ms. Mayawati was wary that the Dalits were gravitating to the Congress.
Mr. Punia was Ms. Mayawati's Principal Secretary when she was the Chief Minister in 2002-03.
