Former UP CM lashes out at Adityanath government over charges that he vandalised government bungalow, says bureaucrats close to CM responsible for ‘manipulating’ premises.
New Delhi: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Wednesday blamed the Yogi government for the reports that he had damaged his government-allotted bungalow at Lucknow’s Vikramaditya Marg, and alleged that two top UP officials had “manipulated” the condition of the accommodation after he had vacated it on 8 June.
“Everyone knows that Abhishek Kaushik, officer on special duty (OSD) to chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) and senior IAS officer Mrityunjay Narayan had visited the house after I left. I leave it to the media to find out why they visited and why after their visit, the media was taken to show that I had damaged the house,” the former chief minister said at a press conference in Lucknow.
Akhilesh insisted that before leaving the house, he had handed over an inventory to the state government and he had left behind everything he had received with the bungalow.
“I renovated certain things in the bungalow at my own expense and I have taken some of my personal things. But the story being planted is that I have destroyed the property,” Akhilesh said.
The press conference comes a day after UP governor Ram Naik asked the state government to take action over the reported damage to the bungalow. The action came on the back of media reports and videos on social media that showed damaged portions of the accommodation.
Yadav had left the bungalow — 4, Vikramaditya Marg — on 8 June, after the Supreme Court had on 7 May, made it mandatory for all past chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh to vacate their official bungalows.
No swimming pool
Reacting to the reports that he had vandalised a swimming pool and removed taps and tiles among others things, the former chief minister said that there was no such pool on the premises.
“I am surprised that they found a swimming pool that never existed in the house,” Akhilesh said. “More than a thousand children have visited my house in the last year. Ask any of them if they have noticed a swimming pool in the house. The government is feeding wrong information to the media.”
On a question of missing water taps, Akhilesh Yadav denied that he ever took them with him. “When I left, it was there. It must be the work of some miscreants,” he said flashing some new water taps in his hands.
The former chief minister, however, said he had removed a steel structure on which a badminton court had been built inside the house. “I had made it of steel thinking that the day I would move from the bungalow, I will take it with me. What is wrong in taking something that belongs to me,” he asked.
On the governor’s letter, Akhilesh said, “The hon’ble governor is a nice person but sometimes the soul of the RSS comes back to him.”
The SP chief also urged his party workers to work hard and defeat the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “The BJP has not been able to digest the recent poll defeats and has gone blind with hate. But we will work hard to defeat them in 2019,” he said.
The BJP reacted to Yadav’s allegations and said he should’ve watched his language. “Akhilesh should have controlled his language at the press conference. The decision to vacate the bungalow was not taken by the state government but was ordered by the Supreme Court. Being a former chief minister, I hope he understands this,” Sidharth Nath Singh, UP minister and state government spokesperson said.
If some improvements had been made at personal expense, in a stately property where one has been an honoured guest, no harm in leaving them behind as good wishes for the next family. Morarji Desai and his affluent son Kanti were long time tenants in a spacious flat at Oceana building on Marine Drive. They litigated with the owners, Mohini and Rohini Gupta, all the way upto the apex court. When they were finally asked to vacate, photographs appeared in the newspapers, showing the flat, with wires hanging out, where they had yanked out electrical fittings. No class. Finally, the state government took pity on them and allotted a flat.