Lucknow: On Wednesday, Akhilesh Yadav looked to shift the blame over the bungalow row claiming that the wooden flooring along with many things in the house were ‘intact’ and one ‘damaged corner was photographed in a way’ to make it look like the house was left in a bad state.
He told ANI UP: “Wooden flooring along with many things in bungalow are intact. One damaged corner of house was photographed in way to make it look like house was left in a bad state.”
He claimed that the UP CM’s secy visited the bungalow after he left and govt used the media to ‘defame him’.
He further said: “Log pyaar mein andhe hote honge par jalan aur nafrat mein andhe hote hain yeh meine dekha hai (People are blind in love and they are blind in hatred, I’ve seen that).”
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik on Tuesday asked the state government to take action over the reported damage to the bungalow vacated by former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, calling it a serious matter involving the taxpayer’s money.
In a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Governor said reports about the damage at 4, Vikramaditya Marg, were doing the rounds in the media and among the common people.
“The residences allocated to the former chief ministers belong to the Estates department and their maintenance is done through the taxpayers’ money,” he wrote.
“The state government needs to take proper action as per the rules into the damages caused to the state’s property,” Naik said.
The bungalow was vacated by the Samajwadi Party leader in compliance with a Supreme Court order that former chief ministers were not entitled to any government accommodation in Lucknow.
Video clips and photos had shown damage to a cycle track, on walls after air-conditioners seemed to have been removed and to the floor of what appeared to be a badminton court at the vacated bungalow.
Yadav had then said it was an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to defame him.
The Governor also called the Estates department officials and was told that videography had been done at the houses vacated by the former chief ministers.
After the video clips surfaced, estates department official Yogesh Kumar Shukla had said officials will check the inventory of fittings provided at the bungalow.
The department will serve a notice if there was any damage done intentionally or if there was anything missing, he had said.
The SP had termed the video clips as an attempt to tarnish Yadav’s image, saying his popularity was continuously growing after the defeat of the BJP in recent bypolls.
It asked why the bungalows vacated by other former chief ministers were not shown.
As the two parties sparred, the BJP had said the damage at the bungalow reflected Yadav’s frustration.
Following the SC order, the UP estates department had issued notices to six former chief ministers – Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Kalyan Singh, Mayawati, Rajnath Singh and Akhilesh Yadav.
Barring Congress veteran N D Tiwari, who is ailing in Delhi, all of them have now handed over their official bungalows.