Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday rejected actress and SP MP Jaya Bachchan's allegation that the state government was hounding her husband, actor Amitabh Bachchan, over a land deal.
"Those raising their voice in support of Bachchan are seeking cheap publicity," Mayawati said in a press statement after Jaya alleged earlier in the day that people were harassing her husband to seek attention.
"The proceedings initiated against Bachchan were part of a routine exercise undertaken in all cases where evasion of stamp duty is suspected; it is done locally at the district level and has nothing whatsoever to do with the government," she said.
The state government served a notice on Bachchan for allegedly evading Rs 690 in stamp duty on registration of land bought in Barabanki for a college named after his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.
"Some people connected with Bachchan have tried to distort facts with the obvious intent of defaming the chief minister and for gaining cheap publicity."
A press statement by the state government said: “some persons are distorting the matter and making baseless allegations to malign the Chief Minister.”
"The fact it that it's an action initiated by the district administration in which no directives have been given from Chief Minister's level. It's a small matter and was not even in the knowledge of at the senior level government", the government statement said.
Jaya and SP General Secretary Amar Singh alleged in a press conference in Bhopal that the notice sent to Bachchan was "political vendetta" by the state government.
"It's just cheap publicity. You will take Amitabh Bachchan's name and your name will come when the allegations are made so you will get publicity. The media will print whatever Mayawati says and she will gain publicity out of the matter. She says so many things but does not make headlines daily, but if she will attack Amitabh Bachchan, she will hit the headlines," said Jaya.
Amitabh bought the land in Barabanki when SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister of UP.
(With inputs from IANS and PTI)
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