Flaunting power: Mayawati was equally extravagant in Delhi

NEW DELHI: It seems former UP chief minister and BSP chief Mayawati's splurge on 13, Mall Avenue bungalow - her official residence when she was CM - could just be the tip of the iceberg.

According to reports, Mayawati, popularly known as "Behenji" among her party men, spent Rs 86 crore on doing up her official residence in Lucknow.

Now, response to an RTI plea reveals that there are four government bungalows with large-scale unauthorised constructions in New Delhi in Mayawati's name. Unfortunately, with her party, the BSP, losing power in UP in the recently held polls, rest of the bungalows other than "the entitled one" has to be vacated.

The RTI was filed to know about instances of Parliamentarians and others - cutting across party-lines - in carrying out large-scale unauthorised construction without the permission of the competent authority, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

The news of Mayawati's extravagance in her former official residence came to light through an RTI application by Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav and others. Ironically, the bungalow's construction was clubbed with the building of memorials of Dalit icons.

A few windows of her former official residence was fitted with bullet-proof glass. According to reports, each window costs 15 lakh.

Interestingly, this disclosure comes within days of RJD chief Lalu Yadav demanding abolition of post-retirement government bungalows even for the President of India, vice-president and the prime minister.

Experts believe it is time the Supreme Court intervenes to check the menace of powerful people using government property long after they are out of power.

In 2007, the Union government had attempted to end squatting of political parties in government bungalows by allocating land on the basis of a party's combined strength in the two Houses of Parliament.