3-in-1 Rakabganj bungalow Kanshiram memorial: Mayawati

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati defended her party on the controversy around the three-in-one bungalow in Rakabganj area of Delhi. In response to reports that the UPA government allowed her to merge three government bungalows in a gesture of political generosity, Mayawati said a mountain has been made out of a molehill by anti-dalit forces, including journalists. She also claimed the bungalow was a memorial of BSP founder Kanshiram and that all rules and regulations had been followed in the procedure.

Addressing reporters on Saturday, Mayawati said, "We were given one bungalow for the smarak but the place was too small, therefore, we asked the government of Delhi to allot the adjacent bungalow where I was living for the same. The third bungalow is the one which was allotted to me in place of the bungalow I gave for the memorial. We have followed all rules and regulations in the process," she said. Mayawati added that there was no controversy in the matter. "Some anti-dalit forces, including journalists, have given a political colour to the issue,: said Mayawati.

It was being said that the bungalows were allotted to the BSP chief as a 'payback gesture' in 2007 when she extended support to the Congress-led UPA in its time of crisis. The matter caught attention following an RTI query filed by activist Subhash Agrawal. The document revealed that the Central government had even bypassed rules to allot four government bungalows to Mayawati who was then chief minister of UP. Not only this, to regularise the merger, the directorate of estate numbered the amalgamated bungalows as a single unit before allotting it to the Bahujan Prerna Trust.