Mayawati vacates home, takes media to 'prove' its Kanshi memorial

LUCKNOW: Former chief minister and BSP supremo Mayawati vacated the 13-A, Mall Avenue bungalow on Saturday and moved into the nearby 9, Mall Avenue property, following the Supreme Court order asking all former CMs to vacate their official bungalows.
In an unprecedented move, she took mediapersons on a "guided tour" of the sprawling property on Saturday, reiterating her point that it was a memorial dedicated to BSP founder Kanshi Ram and that she had occupied "only a small part of it". Even though she finally left the property, Mayawati's warning to the government made it clear that she was not going to allow it to be allocated to someone else in a hurry.

Mayawati: This became memorial in 2011, I lived in its small part

The property, she claimed, was designated as Kanshi Ram memorial in 2011. She said if there was any vandalism after her security left, the government would be responsible for any public unrest that might follow. She also said that as per a 2011 cabinet decision, the portion she had vacated would now also become a part of the memorial and could not be allocated to anyone else.

On Saturday, hours before Mayawati left the premises, the massive rooms in the two wings, including two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining area and meeting rooms, held only basic furniture.

Murals showing the life of Kanshi Ram, Mayawati and BR Ambedkar were hung in the long corridors while boards declaring the property to be a Kanshi Ram memorial had also been placed across.

The BSP supremo, surrounded by her security staff, led camerapersons to almost all rooms, explaining Kanshi Ram's association with the building and how it held a special place in the hearts of Dalits.

In a letter to the "rajya sampatti adhikari" (RSA) on Saturday, Mayawati said: "In an order dated January 13, 2011, the RSA had declared 13-A Mall Avenue as Kanshi Ram memorial. Under that order, I was given permission to live in a small part of it. The thought behind this order was that the property could be maintained and secured properly. That order also noted that I was living in a very small part of 13-A Mall Avenue and keeping in mind my level 8 security, I was allocated the 6, Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg bungalow on December 23, 2011."

Mayawati sought to clarify that the 13-A property was allocated to her erroneously by the UP government in 2014, a mistake which she sought to clarify a few days later by writing to the RSA and informing him that the property was already a memorial and therefore could not be allocated to her.