This is a simple case of Mayanomics: BSP workers have been given a target of collecting Rs 2 lakh each from the 402 Assembly segments in UP for the party fund before the BSP chief’s 49th birthday on January 15.Directives have also been issued to complete the fund-raising exercise as soon as possible, as the party would be needing the money for its poll campaign in three states, including Bihar and Tamil Nadu. The BSP district coordinators, MPs and MLAs have been given coupons with denominations ranging from Rs 1,000-Rs 50,000.I-T Department sources said the fund-raising exercise is expected to raise at least Rs 8 crore. ‘‘The money is being collected as donation, which is non-taxable. We only expect the party to show this income with receipts while filing the annual tax return. The only thing the I-T Department can do in this case is to verify the coupons to ensure that these are not fake ones. But that will be a massive exercise,’’ said Income Tax officer N.R. Chakrobarty.The BSP observes Mayawati’s birthday as ‘‘Arthik Diwas’’ (Economy Day) and the party workers religiously collect the maximum sum possible for the event. ‘‘Behnji’s birthday has always been observed as Arthik Diwas and we all happily contribute for the party fund,’’ said Bhagwati Sagar, former BSP minister. He has been given the responsibility of supervising the fund collection in Mulayam Singh Yadav’s native Etawah district. ‘‘We hope to collect nearly Rs 10-12 lakh from the district,’’ he said.Now out of power, Mayawati’s birthday celebrations won’t be the same next year. In 2003, the BJP-BSP combine had observed the day as ‘‘Swabhiman Diwas’’. The then Chief Secretary D.S. Bagga had issued an order to all government officials on December 30, 2002, to be present for the programme, which the Opposition had termed as a ‘‘blatant misuse of government money’’.The Allahabad High Court had also issued a showcause notice to the Mayawati government on a PIL filed by the PUCL and the CAG had initiated an inquiry into how a sum of Rs 1.14 crore was withdrawn from the state contingency fund by the Information Department for the celebrations.
