Punia, who was elected from Barabanki constituency on a Congress ticket, was her principal secretary in her three previous regimes in 1995, 1997 and 2002.
Mayawati even questioned Punia’s caste credentials saying, “I wonder if you all are aware that Punia does not belong to the Chamar (cobbler) community; he is a Dhanuk from Haryana.”
“Punia is a traitor like Kajrorkar, personal assistant of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, but I won’t be bullied by him. I have inherited the legacy of Dr Ambedkar and Manyawar Kanshi Ram, and not traitors like Kajrorkar,” she added at the party meeting in Lucknow.
“The Congress has repeated history by fielding my personal secretary in the Lok Sabha polls. Sonia Gandhi, her son and daughter campaigned in Barabanki and the party spent over Rs 100 crore to ensure the victory of Punia, with the sole objective of humiliating me,” she said.
This was not the first time she targeted Punia. A day after the first phase of the polls on April 16, she had even accused Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi of frequently visiting UP to help his “friends in the bureaucracy who were contesting for the Congress”.
The 64-year-old Punia, a 1970-batch IAS officer of UP cadre and a native of Haryana, shot into prominence in 1993, when Mulayam Singh Yadav, took over as chief minister of the SP-BSP alliance government. Mayawati made him her principal secretary when she took over as CM in 1995. Since then, Punia served two more stints with Mayawati when she became the CM in 1997 and 2002.
But bitterness set in after the 175-crore Taj Heritage Corridor scam broke out in 2003. Punia turned approver against Mayawati, against whom the CBI was preparing a chargesheet. Though Mayawati got a reprieve after Governor T V Rajeswar refused to grant sanction for prosecution, her latest diatribe indicates her fear that Punia could become a handy tool in the hands of the Congress.
“Punia was a loyal bureaucrat who relentlessly protected the political interest of Mayawati, yet she ditched him in the Taj Heritage Corridor scam. This hurt Punia no end,” said a senior IAS officer. “Though there were IAS officers who wielded influence in state politics, none can match the clout of Punia, who has support cutting across caste and creed.”
The officer added: “Punia has worked closely with both Kanshi Ram and Mayawati, knows about the structure and methodology of the BSP. He could be a deadly weapon against Mayawati in the hands of the Congress.”
Punia, on his part, has an answer for Mayawati’s “traitor” allegation. “If I am repeating the history of Kajrorkar, then before equating me with the PA of Dr Ambedkar, she should first tell the people what she did with her mentor Kanshi Ram. Family members of Kanshi Ram were never allowed to meet him when he was seriously ill and they were not allowed to even attend his last rites.”
Describing the poll results as “a mandate against Mayawati”, he said: “Taking moral responsibility for the BSP’s defeat, she should resign as CM. She went to the polls hoping to become the next PM but today she is fighting to save her political ground in her home state.”
Punia, who retired in 2005, had contested the 2007 Assembly election from Fatehpur in Barabanki district, but lost to BSP’s Meeta Gautam. As in the 2007 polls, Mayawati had campaigned against Punia this time too. But Punia won by a margin of 1.67 lakh votes. The BSP candidate was a distant third.
Punia said he would do everything to revive the Congress. “We will do our job in the interest of the party, if that hurts the political interests of somebody we can’t help it,” said Punia. “As far as Mayawati is
