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The controversy over the order on reservations for SC/ST/OBCs in sports institutions is taking larger proportions with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati taking offence to leakage of official documents pertaining to the issue.
Earlier, she had to retract the reservations following pressure from a coalition partner but claimed that the principal secretary (sports) Harish Chandra had kept her in the dark about the details of the order.
However, with the media coming up with reports that Chandra had been made a scapegoat and a television channel airing copies of the order, which clearly shows Mayawati's signatures on the proposal, the rattled chief minister has gone on the offensive.
At a hurriedly convened press conference in Lucknow on Wednesday morning, she condemned the channel and ordered a high-level probe into 'leakage of an official document'.
The chief minister also directed Chief Secretary D S Bagga to fix responsibility for 'leakage' of yet another document - a letter sent by World Bank (country) Director Edward Lim to Bagga.
The letter, in which Lim had expressed displeasure over the unsatisfactory progress in some projects funded by the bank and the frequent shifting of bureaucrats heading these projects, made headlines in all major newspapers.
She made it clear that 'guilty officials will receive the most severe punishment'.
Condemning the television channel for 'distorting' facts on the reservations issue, Mayawati also pointed out that the same proposal had been turned down by the previous BJP government in 1999.
"Had I been told that the proposal had already been turned down by the previous government, I would have readily followed suit," she added.
Asked why she had reacted so sharply, ordering Chandra's suspension, on this issue, Mayawati said there were other serious issues involved, including charges of land grabbing and moral turpitude pending against the officer.
"Those charges are also being investigated," the chief minister explained.
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