Akhilesh to foray into hospitality industry post Govt bungalow eviction

| | Lucknow

Evicted from palatial Government bungalow on Vikramaditya Marg after orders from the Supreme Court, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has decided to foray into hospitality industry.

The SP chief has decided to construct a heritage hotel named ‘Hibiscus’ (a type of a flower). The plot where the hotel is proposed to be constructed is situated close to his party office on Vikramaditya Marg and right behind the Chief Minister’s official residence on Kalidas Marg.

Akhilesh and his MP wife Dimple Yadav jointly submitted a building plan to Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) for approval in June. Along with this, they also submitted papers of ownership of the plot. The address of the proposed hotel in the application submitted with the LDA is 1 A, Vikramaditya Marg.

Executive engineers of LDA have referred the matter to Chief Architect of Lucknow Muncipal Corporation. The couple has also sought NOC from DG (Security), Estate Officer of UP government and general manager of Lucknow Jal Sansthan and Nazul Land Officer of the LDA.

The land where the hotel is to be constructed was jointly purchased by Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav for Rs 39 lakh in 2005. The cost of the property located at the high security zone has now multiplied to several crore rupees.

LDA sources said that the SP chief has sought approval for a two-storeyed building as construction is not permitted beyond this height in the high security zone.

Samajwadi Party sources said that the idea of constructing a hotel on Vikramaditya Marg was given by party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Seth, who is himself a prominent builder of Lucknow.

Soon after vacating the government bungalow in June, Akhilesh had announced that he would construct his private house on this plot. He had then said he and his father Mulayam Singh never cared for constructing their homes in Lucknow and by askingthem to vacatethe bungalows, the Yogi government has forced him to get his own house constructed in Lucknow.