Much to the chagrin of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday allotted a big bungalow — 6, Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg — to Samajwadi Secular Morcha founder Shivpal Singh Yadav.
The bungalow, located in Raj Bhawan colony, was earlier allotted to the youth wing of Bahujan Samaj Party and was vacated following orders of the Supreme Court in May 2017.
Akhilesh and Shivpal had been engaged in a bitter power struggle within the SP for over two years. In September this year, Shivpal had floated his political outfit — SSM.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s decision to allot the sprawling bungalow to Shivpal Yadav drew criticism from the opposition.
“Shivpal is just an MLA from Jaswantnagar constituency. How can he be allotted that bungalow?” a SP leader asked.
Sources close to Shivpal Yadav said that the newly-allotted bungalow could be used as the new office of Samajwadi Secular Morcha and preparations were in full swing at the bungalow to welcome the leader.
On his part, Shivpal said on Friday, “I am a five-time MLA and former minister, owing to which I had applied for a bigger space. After seeking a report from intelligence wing, the new house was allotted to me by the government. All rules and regulations have been followed in the process.”
It is being widely speculated in political circles that the Bharatiya Janata Party is placating Shivpal Yadav only to widen the rift between the Yadav family ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said some time back that Shivpal’s outfit should merge with the BJP.