BJP spreading misinformation about my house: Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of spreading misinformation about the house he vacated and also targeted the media for coming under pressure to show concocted pictures about alleged damage done at his residence he occupied till last week.

The former Chief Minister alleged that senior IAS official Mrityunjay Narayan and the OSD to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Abhishek, visited the residence before it was given to the Estates Department and threw it open to the media as part of a conspiracy.

Questioning the motive behind these high-profile visits, a visibly upset Akhilesh Yadav warned the officials not to stoop so low as government changes.

Rubbishing charges that he had even ripped off taps from the sprawling bungalow, he held two steel taps and dared the government to show him the inventory. Even one item was missing, he would immediately pay for it.

"Things like taps are generally stolen by drug addicts... If our government comes to power again, we will find out who these drug addicts among the bureaucracy were," he said, his voice choking with anger.

Akhilesh Yadav has been accused by the government of badly damaging the residence he was forced to vacate following a Supreme Court directive.

After vacating his sprawling house, on which officials say the previous government spent Rs 42 crore, the authorities have alleged widespread damage, including ripping up of floorings, tiles as well as electrical and plumbing fittings.

The government has ordered a probe into the issue and a cross checking of the inventory of the bungalow is underway.

Governor Ram Naik has also taken cognizance of the matter and asked the state government to thoroughly probe the issue and ensure that the damages to the house, built at public expenses, are recovered.

The 45-year-old Akhilesh Yadav also targeted the Governor but without naming him and said people who were sleeping otherwise had woken up now.

The Samajwadi Party chief claimed that the BJP had been badly hit by back-to-back defeats in elections in Kairana, Phulpur, Noorpur and Gorakhpur and so it was resorting to a misinformation campaign against him.

--IANS

md/mr