Mayawati vacates Delhi house allotted as party chief, BSP cites ‘security’
ROUGHLY 10 years ago, the civic authorities had shifted a bus stop from the front of BSP chief Mayawati’s then Lutyens’ Delhi bungalow as she claimed threat to her security. Last week, with the BSP claiming similar security concerns regarding her 35, Lodhi Estate, bungalow, Mayawati quietly vacated it.
Mayawati had moved into the residence, allotted to her as the president of a national party, about a year ago. Government sources said that on May 20, she left the bungalow and handed over the keys to the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).
The 35, Lodhi Estate, residence had a perfect location as far as the BSP chief, who enjoys Z-plus security, went, as it was located in the lane right behind the party’s central office at 29, Lodhi Estate. The back gate of the party office opened towards 35, Lodhi Estate. Both bungalows were renovated in a similar look last year.
Senior BSP office-bearers were tight-lipped about Mayawati’s decision to shift houses. While calls and messages to BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Misra got no response, another national general secretary, Meva Lal, said he had no information about it.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one senior BSP functionary claimed Mayawati’s decision to relocate was “due to security concerns”. “There is a school located on the same road, just 100 metres from the property. School vans often remain parked on the road opposite 35, Lodhi Estate. Parents who come to drop and pick up their wards also park vehicles on the same road. As vehicles of security personnel deployed in Behanji’s security are also parked in the same area, it causes inconvenience to both them and the schoolchildren.”
While the Vidya Bhawan Mahavidyalaya school is located on Max Mueller Marg, one of its gates opens onto the same road as 35, Lodhi Estate.
Pointing out that Mayawati has Z+ security cover, the BSP leader said that whenever she was at her residence, security personnel had to check the area with bomb squads, and that caused inconvenience for the school and its visitors.
Delhi Police sources said they were not aware about any security issue outside Mayawati’s residence, but that the unit which provided Z-plus security to her had been informed about her shifting to another house. The security cover to her continues, they said.
Incidentally, Mayawati has shifted at a time when the BSP’s status as a national party is under question due to its poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Mayawati was allotted the Type-VII 35, Lodhi Estate, bungalow – the second largest type of government accommodation – as per a July 2014 policy of the Directorate of Estates for presidents of national parties. In reply in the Lok Sabha on April 3, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said she was assigned the bungalow on February 15, 2024.
Incidentally, the 29, Lodhi Estate, bungalow that now houses the BSP office had been given to Mayawati as her residence on December 7, 2021, as acknowledged by the Directorate of Estates in an RTI reply. In February 2024, it was given to the BSP as its office while Mayawati was allotted 35, Lodhi Estate, as her residence.
Sources said that the 35, Lodhi Estate, property has over two dozen rooms, with Mayawati’s security personnel and her staff using many of the rooms while she lived there.
In January 2014, when the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre, It had reported how the Delhi civic authorities had shifted a bus stop from front of Mayawati’s residence allegedly under pressure from the BSP. Sources said Mayawati had written to the Delhi Police and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs that the bus stop posed a threat to her life.
