Mayawati accuses Congress of luring her

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has accused the Congress of trying to lure her ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha Polls by offering to withdraw the Taj Corridor and disproportionate assets cases against her, reports said on Saturday.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief said that her party had declined the offer made by the Congress for a national-level electoral ?understanding? back then.

News channel CNN-IBN said that Mayawati made these remarks at a closed-door meeting of party MPs, MLAs and office bearers.

Reportedly, the minister also accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in the centre of dishing out step-motherly treatment to her state.

Taking on Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, she said the young MP?s random vistis to the state and interactions with dalits were measures of desperation to regain the trust of the oppressed classes.