Jayanthi counters 'tax' allegations

Targeted by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Sunday hit back at the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, saying she is being singled out for being vocal against him.

Natarajan’s reaction came as Modi launched an attack on her in a political rally in Panaji, saying that for the first time he had heard of “Jayanthi tax”. He was apparently referring to allegations about her tenure.

She said Modi was levelling allegations against her because she had blocked some projects in Gujarat. “Modi is singling me out. He cannot intimidate me. He is targeting me because I have been vocal against him,” she said.

In the rally, Modi said there was a storm over the Environment Ministry and all files were blocked. “No file was moving without money. We had heard of income, sales and excise taxes, but for the first time we are hearing about a Jayanthi tax in Delhi, without which nothing was moving,” he said.

“Till the time that is not paid, files cannot be moved in the Environment Ministry. I have never experienced it myself as I never need it, but we are shocked at this. What kind of systems have they developed?” he alleged.Natarajan resigned as Environment Minister on December 21, triggering speculation that there would be a reshuffle in party leadership ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. 

However, it was reported that this was not the real reason and that she was asked to quit as she had not given clearances to projects.