After SC order, ex-CMs in UP go house-hunting

LUCKNOW: Former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh are on the move, busy house-hunting or shifting, after being asked to vacate their government accommodation following Supreme Court orders.

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 official bungalows in compliance with the court orders.

They currently occupy prime government properties in the high-security VVIP zone in Lucknow.

While Mulayam Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav occupy bungalows on the posh Vikramaditya Marg, Mayawati and Tiwari resides in a government bungalow on Mall Avenue. Home Minister Rajnath Singh's bungalow is at 4 Kalidas Marg next to the residence of the chief minister.

While Rajnath Singh had written to the department that he would be shifting in his own house, former CMs Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav were depending on SP MP Sanjay Seth, a known builder, to search for a house for them.

Rajnath Singh, a local MP, is going to live in his residence, on 200 square metre plot, at 3/206 Vipul Khand in Gomti Nagar, where last minute preparations like white washing and arrangements for security personnel are underway to welcome his family.

The notice could not be served to Tiwari as there was no responsible person available at his Mall Avenue residence and it was forwarded to him at other addresses, an Estate Department official said.