On a day when the 15-day deadline given by the Estate Department of the Uttar Pradesh government came to an end, all former chief ministers, except the ailing Narayan Dutt Tiwari, vacated their official residences on Saturday, 2 June.
This was done in compliance with an order of the Supreme Court which declared allotment of official bungalows to former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh as “bad in law.”
Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son, Akhilesh, have shifted to four suites at the VVIP Guest House of the state government, while Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's belongings have been shifted to his 2,400 square feet personal residence in posh Gomti Nagar.
Kalyan Singh, who is currently serving as the governor of Rajasthan, has also shifted to the official residence of his grandson, Sandip Singh, who is a Minister of State in the Yogi Adityanath government.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, who was earlier dithering in vacating the 13A Mall Avenue house that had been allotted to her, has also started vacating the residence and her new address would be 9, Mall Avenue, which she got allotted as her personal residence when she was the chief minister. Her office staff confirmed to IANS that the residence would be vacated in the night.
She had earlier also shifted her 6, Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg residence, but the Estate Department said that the official residence allotted to her was 13A, Mall Avenue and that she would have to vacate that in compliance of the order of the apex court or invite the contempt of court.
In a note released in the night, the BSP supremo, however, clarified that she has only vacated that part of the 13A, Mall Avenue, where she stayed during her Lucknow visits.
She said the other parts were dedicated to her mentor and Dalit icon Kanshiram and that maintenance, safety and security of the same would now be the duty of the state's BJP government.
This part of her official residence, she pointed out, had an auditorium, a library, a pantry, a rest house and some other things dedicated to the late BSP founder. She also advised the media to write correct things and not unconfirmed news under duress.
Mulayam’s 5, Vikramaditya Marg residence, famously known as “Kothi”, which was his residence for over 30 years, has also been fully vacated, the staff confirmed.
His son and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who had spent Rs 48 crore of the state exchequer on his house next door (4, Vikramaditya Marg), has also vacated and most of his stuff has gone to the Sahara Shahar, the sprawling campus housing Sahara Parivaar chief Subrata Roy. He has since shifted to the VVIP guest house.
He is likely to shift at a villa in the Ansal's township on the Shaheed Path. Mulayam and his second son Prateek Yadav are also shifting to Ansal's in nearby villas. Renovation is continuing at these houses.
Tiwari, who had been chief minister of both UP and Uttarakhand, is yet to vacate the house as he is comatose and admitted at a medical facility in New Delhi. His wife has requested for more time owing to the condition of the veteran politician.
The request has been sent to the Legal Department for opinion, an official said.
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