Former UP chief minister Mayawati has been in the dock for spending lavishly on her official bungalow and it was the Samajwadi Party that had criticised her bitterly on this issue.
However, if the information given by the Uttar Pradesh government in repose to a RTI query is any indication, then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has already spent double the amount that Ms Mayawati spent in sprucing up his official bungalow.
According to social activist Urvashi Sharma, she had filed a RTI query in the chief minister’s secretariat on what amount had been spent in renovating and maintaining the chief minister’s official 5, Kalidas Marg bungalow in the financial year 2011-2012 (Mayawati regime) and 2012-2013 (Akhilesh Yadav regime).
According to the reply received by Ms Sharma, Ms Mayawati had spent `2 lakhs on ordinary repairs in her residence and `21.2 lakhs on new construction.
Mr Akhilesh Yadav has spent `1.9 lakhs on ordinary repairs and `41.7 lakhs on new construction which is the double of what his predecessor had spent.
When questioned, a senior SP leader justified the expenditure saying that Ms Mayawati had got the windows in the bungalow sealed for security reasons which had not only turned the residence claustrophobic and had increased the electricity bills.