UP Governor seeks action over damage to bungalow vacated by Akhilesh Yadav

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. He said this was a "serious matter".

"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," Ram 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.

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 Samajwadi Party had termed the video clips as an attempt to tarnish Mr 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 Mr Yadav's "frustration".

Following the Supreme Court 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 ND Tiwari, who is ailing in Delhi, all of them have now handed over their official bungalows.