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Sandstone carvings, domes and statues: A look at Mayawati’s 71,000 square feet house
The new property, carved in sandstone and having a massive dome and statues and wall carvings of her, is twice the size of her previous 13 A Mall Avenue official residence nearby which Mayawati was forced to vacate due to a Supreme Court order.
Eight years after she purchased the sprawling 71,000 square feet property at 9 Mall Avenue in Lucknow, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday revealed that this house, as well as her Delhi residence, had been purchased out of funds donated to her by supporters, who were peeved about her hounding by the BJP.
Mayawati had purchased 9 Mall Avenue, a prime address located alongside bungalows of ministers, on November 3, 2010, three years after coming to power in the state for the fourth time in 2007. The new property, carved in sandstone and having a massive dome and statues and wall carvings of her, is twice the size of her previous 13 A Mall Avenue official residence nearby which she was forced to vacate due to a Supreme Court order asking all former chief ministers to vacate bungalows they held in this capacity.
After failing to convince the government that she be allowed to retain 13 A Mall Avenue since it was converted into a memorial to BSP founder and her mentor Kanshiram, Mayawati had shifted to 9 Mall Avenue earlier this year, but had mostly stayed in Delhi since.
On Sunday, she invited the media to her new property and straightaway taunted the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“They hounded me during my tenure when I shared power in UP with the BJP. That was the time when the BJP government ruled the Centre too. They even implicated me in the Taj corridor case and set the CBI after me. This hurt my supporters, who sent donations to me from across the country. It is through this donation that I purchased properties in Lucknow and Delhi for the Bahujan cause,” she said.
“Along with my supporters, I wish to thank the BJP, of course, for these prime properties for which my supporters across the country contributed,” she said.
“I invited you over lunch to my residence today. But this is a good time to tell you that the property became possible only because of the BJP,” she added.
The BJP didn’t take kindly to Mayawati’s accusations. UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey accused her of not treating her mentor Kanshiram well.
“The world knows what she did with Kanshiram whose family doesn’t talk to her even today,” he said.
