NEW DELHI, 30 July 2003 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday rejected Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s demand to sack Tourism Minister Jagmohan but she stuck to her stand, triggering a rift that could prove costly to both sides.
Relations between Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) — which together rule the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh — touched a new low as they crossed swords in Parliament.
The BSP, with just 14 MPs in the 545-member Lok Sabha, attacked Jagmohan in the Lok Sabha and forced its adjournment over the controversial Taj heritage corridor project.
Shortly after Vajpayee told his party MPs that he had no intention of removing Jagmohan from the Cabinet as demanded on Monday by Mayawati, the BSP MPs were on the warpath in the lower house.
An enraged BSP came down hammer and tongs on Jagmohan, relentlessly insisting on his removal for his alleged role in allowing the construction of a commercial complex near the Taj Mahal in Agra.
