Stung,party’s scam exposing panel goes into a huddle

Senior BJP leader Keshri Nath Tripathi,who was consulted by Somaiya on the subject,said he was not aware when the PIL will be filed. “I was only consulted on the possibility of filing the PIL. I do not know when it will be done,” said Tripathi,also a senior HC advocate.

Asked about the likely impact of Kushwaha’s induction in the party on the campaign,Tripathi said: “I don’t exactly know the justification (of him joining the party). I am yet to talk to the national president about it.”

Somaiya could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. His Mumbai office said he was in Delhi,but efforts to reach him in Delhi proved futile.

A party office-bearer who is closely associated with the “expose scam committee”,which was constituted to help Somaiya,said the fact that Kushwaha was an insider in the Mayawati regime might help in making a stronger court case against the chief minister.

“After all,there has been talk that even the CBI wanted him to be an approver,” said the office-bearer,who did not want to be named. He maintained,however,that the PIL will be filed but “finetuned to make Mayawati the main target’’.

Somaiya had taken a deep personal interest in advancing the cause of exposing scams in the BSP. Recently,he submitted several documents to the CBI to support his allegation of money-laundering by the chief minister’s brother Anand and Satish Mishra. He also dug up records of the bogus firms that were allegedly floated for this purpose. Somaiya had claimed that he had met the chiefs of the CBI,the ED and the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes on the issue and these agencies had sought “more documents from him”.