NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
With the ceremony being held in the sprawling playfield of the 157-year-old La Martiniere College, a lot of fanfare is expected this time. And Lucknow is being decked up in blue for the crowning.
"Only on rare occasions was the swearing-in ceremony held outside the precincts of Raj Bhawan. Twice it was carried out in the K D Singh 'Babu' Sports Stadium. But this is the first time that it is being held in a huge field belonging to a private educational institution," remarked a senior official.
Incidentally, the only time that this ground was used for a political purpose was by Mayawati's arch rival and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had organised a mammoth rally of the then Janata Dal in 1990.
The saffron on the iron-railings along the main thoroughfare downtown was being painted blue to match the BSP insignia.
The imposing Ambedkar statue, installed at Hazratganj by Mayawati during her stint in 1997, was being spruced up.
But it was the controversial Rs 100 crore [Rs 1 billion] Ambedkar Park that had drawn the maximum attention of the state's administrative machinery.
Former urban development minister Lalji Tandon was understood to be personally monitoring the renewed activity in the sprawling park where painters, gardeners, electricians, landscape architects and engineers were sweating it out in a bid to please behenji.
The colossal expenditure on building this park had provoked a high-level probe into charges of large-scale misappropriation of funds.
The inquiry report indicted a couple of senior officials as well as the then ministers Lalji Tandon and Kalraj Misra. But far from initiating any action, an additional sanction of Rs 20 crore [Rs 200 million] was made by none other than former chief minister Rajnath Singh for finishing the "incomplete" task. And it was this special fund that was being "utilised" with utter haste.
Likewise, unlimited money was being spent in sprucing up both the chief minister's official residence and the other government bungalow in which Mayawati was living in her capacity as former chief minister.
Several old air-conditioners and even carpets and furniture were replaced over the past few days.
Governor Vishnukant Shastri's diktat against the use of air-conditioners in all government offices has already been given a go-by.
The power crisis in the state notwithstanding, trial runs were being done in not only the chief minister's office and residence but in other government offices too.
ALSO SEE Election 2002: The Complete Coverage
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
