Mayawati took journalists for a tour around her Mall Avenue residence in Lucknow on Saturday. (Express photo/Vishal Srivastav)
A day after the Uttar Pradesh Estate Department stated that it did not issue the government order Mayawati had produced to vacate a different bungalow — 6, Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, claiming that one was allotted to her as former CM — the BSP chief on Saturday vacated 13-A Mall Avenue in Lucknow.
She claims 13-A Mall Avenue was registered as ‘Kanshiram Memorial Vishram Sthal’.
Mayawati is the third of six former UP chief ministers, asked by the Supreme Court to vacate bungalows allotted to them as former CMs, to hand over the keys to the Estate Department.
Speaking with the media before vacating the premises, Mayawati maintained that 13-A Mall Avenue had been handed over to the public on January 13, 2011 as “Shri Kanshiram Yaadgar Vishram Sthal”, and that she had been living in a small porting of it to ensure its maintenance and safety.
She said as per a 2011 state Cabinet decision, the part she was living in would now be included in Kanshiram Vishram Sthal. The Adityanath government will have to maintain and take care of the premises now, she said.
Mayawati was the UP CM from 2007 to 2012.
On Friday, the Estate Department found out that the government order shown by Mayawati — to support her claim that the bungalow at 6-LBS Marg was officially allotted to her as ex-CM — was not issued by the department.
Mayawati took the media on a small tour of ‘Kanshiram Vishram Sthal’ at Lucknow’s 13-A, Mall Avenue on Saturday. The premises have a Kanshiram guesthouse, library, meeting hall, kitchen, Mayawati guesthouse and a dozen other rooms. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh have already vacated bungalows allotted to them. Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav are yet to hand over possession; they have started shifting their belongings.
Sources said Akhilesh is moving his belongings to Sahara City in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar area, and Mulayam is shifting some of his things to Ansal township in Sushant Golf City and some to the Lohia Trust premises.
Narayan Dutt Tiwari, who is undergoing treatment in Delhi, is yet to vacate the bungalow. His wife Ujjwala had earlier written to CM Yogi Adityanath and sought at least a year to vacate the premises since the former CM is in bad health.
On Saturday, Estate Officer Yogesh Kumar Shukla said, “We have information that Akhilesh-ji and Mulayam-ji have started vacating their bungalows. We will wait till midnight and then decide the course of action.”
On Mayawati’s claims that 13-A, Mall Avenue was not allotted to her as ex-CM, Shukla said, “We are not able to confirm the order she showed. The notice we had issued to her for 13-A is totally correct. The order for 6, Lal Bahadur Shashtri Marg was not issued by our department. The serial number of the order showed is actually is for allotment of a house to one Rekha-ji. The order is fake. It was not issued by us.”
Mulayam Singh Yadav’s new residence at Ansal township in Sushant Golf City of Lucknow being spruced up. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)
He said Akhilesh had initially booked rooms at the state VVIP guesthouse from May 31 to June 2 to put up after vacating his Lucknow house. “Today we were informed that he would stay there for some more time. Mulayam-ji spent Friday night at the guesthouse and left (for Delhi) on Saturday,” Shukla said.
Speaking with the media before vacating the bungalow, Mayawati accused the BJP government in the state of creating a fuss over houses after the party’s defeat in the bypolls in Kairana and Noorpur. “In order to hide the news of their defeat, they are making people show news… like Maywati still hasn’t vacated her government bungalow 13-A, Mall Avenue,” she alleged.