BJP demands bill for SP chief birthday bash

The BJP Saturday demanded bills from the Uttar Pradesh government and Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan for the extravagance and pompous shows during Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday bash.

While the urban development minister organised a grand show to mark his birthday in Rampur, the state government organised the Saifai Mahotsav in Yadav's native village in Etawah.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state spokesman Manoj Mishra demanded that the state government and Khan should be asked to foot the bill as there was no rationale involved in public money being used in the shows.

"While Khan said that the funds for the SP chief's birthday bash came from Dawood Ibrahim and Taliban, there were media reports that the state labour department was asked to cough up funds for the celebrations in Rampur in November 2014," Mishra said here.

The BJP leader also alluded to media reports that several crores of rupees were spent in the Saifai Mahotsav which earned notoriety for its extravagance.

"There were reports that Bollywood actress Jacquiline Fernandes was paid Rs.75 lakh for five-minute performance...such issues cannot be brushed under the carpet and the BJP and people have the right to know how true are such reports," he said.

He said there were reports that the state labour department was coerced to foot the bills of stage payments for the Rampur event.

A state government spokesman, when asked about the issue regarding the payments of the programmes, refused to comment.