Millennium Post

Most UP EX-CMS LEAVE official bungalows after SC order

- OUR CORRESPOND­ENT

LUCKNOW: A day before expiry of the deadline to vacate their official bungalows, former chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh have moved to the VVIP guest house here, while Mayawati vacated one bungalow, she claimed the other was converted into a memorial for BSP founder Kanshi Ram.

"Mulayam Singh Yadav shifted to the VVIP guest house here on Friday, while Akhilesh Yadav along with his MP wife Dimple and children shifted to the VVIP guest house on Saturday. One room each has been allotted to Akhilesh, Dimple and Mulayam," Chief Management Officer of VVIP Guest House Rajiv Kumar said.

He said all the rooms which have been allotted to them are double-room suites.

Acting on a Supreme Court order last month, the UP Estate Department issued notices to the former chief ministers asking them to vacate their official bungalows within 15 days that expires tomorrow.

The apex court had on May 7 held that former UP chief ministers cannot retain government accommodat­ion after demitting office.

The estate department had issued notices to six former chief ministers –Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Kalyan Singh, Mayawati, Rajnath Singh and Akhilesh Yadav – to vacate their official bungalows in compliance with SC the order.

While Akhilesh and Mulayam have shifted to the VVIP guest house, Tiwari is yet to do so with his wife Ujjwala Tiwari seeking more time from the estate department, pleading that her husband was in the "last stages" of his life.

A board reading 'Pandit Narain Dutt Tiwari Sarvjan Vikas Foundation' has been fixed outside Tiwari's Mall Avenue bungalow it in an apparent bid to save it.

Claiming compliance with the Supreme Court order, BSP supremo Mayawati vacated a government house here but held on to a second sprawling bungalow, which her party says is a memorial to their founder Kanshi Ram.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is also the local MP, has shifted from his bungalow at 4, Kalidas Marg, just next to the residence of the chief minister, to his residence on 200 square metre plot at Vipul Khand in posh Gomti Nagar here.

Rajasthan Govenor Kalyan Singh's belongings have been moved to the official bungalow of his grandson Sandeep Singh, who is a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.

The Supreme Court's order came on a public interest litigation filed by NGO Lok Prahari following an amendment passed by the UP Assembly which allowed all the former chief ministers to occupy government bungalows for lifetime.

The apex court had also struck down the amendment to the legislatio­n which allowed them to retain government accommodat­ion even after demitting office.

 ??  ?? Former UP CMS Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati
Former UP CMS Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati
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