The Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department on Thursday submitted a report to the state government, estimating that the damage done to the government bungalow vacated by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is valued at Rs 10 lakh. The 266-page report highlights that the tiles and electrical wiring of the bungalow have suffered extensive damage, according to News18.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party have traded accusations since June over the condition of the bungalow in Lucknow, which Yadav vacated a month after the Supreme Court ruled that chief ministers cannot retain their government accommodation once they leave office.
Governor Ram Naik had in June asked the state government to initiate proceedings against Yadav for the reported damage to the bungalow. Naik said the matter was serious as it involved taxpayers’ money.
The report, submitted on Thursday, says that the bungalow’s first floor was built on the orders of Yadav himself. The former chief minister also conducted a lot of work on the ground floor. The damage caused to the structure has been videographed, and a notice could soon be sent to Yadav to recover Rs 10 lakh.
Yadav’s Samajwadi Party rejected the report’s findings. “The government has stooped to a new low,” party spokesperson Sunil Singh Sajan claimed. “They are coming out with reports just to malign the image of a former chief minister. The BJP government is rattled by the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance and the loss in bye-polls. Hence, they are desperate to hurt Yadav’s image.”
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