Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati spent a staggering Rs. 86 crore of government funds to renovate her sprawling Mall Avenue bungalow when she was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with some windows costing Rs.15 lakh each.
Details of the renovation work and the expenditure incurred were brought in public domain in an RTI reply by the Estate Department to an application filed by PWD minister and Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav when he was leader of Opposition.
The house is being occupied by Ms. Mayawati in her capacity as former Chief Minister.
Mr. Yadav said an inquiry has been ordered and strict action would be taken against those found guilty of irregularities.
Details of the RTI reply were released by the Samajwadi Party in a statement released to the press on Wednesday.
The money, which was spent by the Estate department, could touch Rs. 100 crore as the department is assessing the exact cost spent on it, according to an official.
The renovation work of the house, which covers about five acres of prime land in Lucknow’s 13 Mall Avenue, commenced soon after Ms. Mayawati became Chief Minister for the fourth time in 2007, but was completed only towards the end of her tenure early this year.
Ms. Mayawati added the land from the adjacent cane commissioner’s office and demolished its building to include the area in 13 Mall Avenue which was originally only 2.5 acres.
The main single-storeyed building has six inter-connected rooms which opens to a wide corridor containing rows of lockers. On a wall in this corridor hangs a neatly framed large picture of Ms. Mayawati taking her oath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister for the first time in 1995.
Outside the corridor is a verandah with only two windows, both fitted with bullet-proof glass. Each window cost Rs. 15 lakh and was specially designed for the house in Chandigarh, according to the RTI reply.
There is a separate two-storeyed well-furnished guesthouse with 14 bedrooms, with pink Italian marble flooring and a meeting hall on the same campus.
The campus also had two 20-feet statues on the premises, one of Mayawati and the other of her mentor late Kanshiram besides five marble statues of elephants, it was stated.
For the security of the house, an issue of concern for Ms. Mayawati, there is a barbed fencing round the boundary walls. A closed-circuit TV network was also installed to keep a close watch on the visitors.
Though bulk of the expenditure was incurred by the Estate department itself, some funds were spent by the Nirman Nigam and some other agencies like the Lucknow Nagar Nigam, Home and Culture Affairs department, sources said.
Ms. Mayawati occupied this house, earlier known as Speaker’s House in 1995 when she first became Chief Minister.
Keywords: Mayawati bungalow, Mall Avenue, government funds
MR. Dheeraj: You have not understood my comment! I know that most of Dalits fall under BPL even today. Huge money made by Mayavathi alone is responsible for rise in the average income of Dalits!! Try to calculate the average!!!
Mayavathi helped to raise the average expenditure too!
Party no bar, this shameful waste of taxpayers money should be stopped.
We need to have a workable mechanism to put an end to this rot.
For Mr C S Sundaresha - Because of people like you who beleieve in caste
, she got so much personal gain..Accept the truth in her tenure only her
income and property risen not the poor one's..By making big Status how
the income of poor will be rise??..
She is supposed to represent the Underdeveloped, poor people.Lokk at this action of hers .Now she is Unfit to represent this section of the society.She shall be taken to the courts now by the New CM.
Mayavathi helped to rise the average income of Dalits!!
In UP politics, Mayawati emerged as a Dalit icon but does she really know what is immediately required for dalit upliftment. Dalits can not be uplifted by erecting elephant statues and parks and by accepting a garland worth 5 crores. While the common man can manage a day in 29 rupees, these politicians are unable to manage even in crores. Till recently she used to have 415 men strong security cover, now even windows of her house are bulletproof. Its a matter of shame for us as we have only one policeman per thousand people. Government should take stern action against the anabashed display of unaccounted money of these politicians. She should be punished for misuse and abuse of power and public money for her owe vanity.
One more Political Shame! It had to happen, its the trailer of the
movie, whole movie is still left, Its just about 100 Crore rs , but no
one knows how much governments fund had been wasted in bsp government,
100 Crore in renovation , house of even tata and birla would not take
that much money in renovation because that is their own money. Bsp
government should be punished to set a better example for present
government so that no more wastage of public money would happen again
Do we have one politician setting good example? I don't see any one. Can anybody provide a list, however small it may be? Law of the land does not prevent innumerable adjournments of the court cases. Once somebody becomes a rich politician in this country, she/he can loot this country much worse than the British. Shameless politicians talk to make India a developed nation, but only make themselves live like queens and kings.
That is the real face of these corrupt to core, extortionist lawmakers - who are habitual lawbreakers. She claims to be the messiah of the downtrodden - atleast 17,200 reasonably good one room quarters could have been made to accomodate homeless people with that money and they would have housed atleast 70,000 people.
Properties of the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayati must be
attached and she must be sent to jail.
Great news!. Just 86 crores ... could have been much more.
National shame. she should be put behind bars and she need to undergo life imprisonment for her mad lavishness.Unless she is pulled up in time,she will set a bad example to others in the Country.
Lucky that the residence is in Lucknow.If it were in Chennai it will be converted into a hospital.
She could have spent the same amount on keeping 43,000 of her U.P subjects above the international poverty line for a period of one year. Oh well, but then, how could she possibly lived without looking at 20 foot statutes of her self.
It will be good if the govt. make these type of renovated buildings as museums, with details of construction details - without ticket, so that the POOR lots can vision to sleep in such mansions. Oh my INDIA!
Please don't just report it for a day and let it go. Mayawati used public money as if it was her own, she should go to jail for a long time for all the corruption she was involved in.
SHAME! That is an eye opening fact, which people of not only UP but all states should note, that people in politics definitely misuse public money, either by twisting the way of money coming in or other means. What a pity! On one side government is putting in efforts, introducing reforms to curb poverty, provide water and electricity to farmers and poor sections of society and on other hand, CM level politicians are filling up their closet with hard earned public money.
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