Yogi’s no to new Mercedes, says okay with car inherited from Akhilesh

lucknow

Updated: Jul 05, 2017 12:35 IST

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has rejected the proposal of the estate department to purchase two Mercedes Benz SUVs for him and his fleet.

He will continue to use the five-year old car that he has inherited from former CM Akhilesh Yadav.

The rejection of the proposal has saved at least Rs 5 crore which would have been incurred in buying the cars and then bullet-proofing them.

Yogi Adityanath is still the head priest of Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur and is known for leading an austere life.

He had earlier rejected the requisition for the purchase of Toyota-Fortuner for his ministers and cleared Toyota Innova. The top model of Fortuner costs Rs 31.86 lakh while Innova comes at less than half the price.

Two of his predecessors – SP president Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati – had given the go ahead for new cars. The government had acquired Mayawati had a Land Cruiser for Rs 1 crore (the cost at that time) during her 2007-2012 tenure while Akhilesh had a Mercedes Benz.

The Samajwadi Party government had purchased two identical cars – one for the CM and the other for the then SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Though Akhilesh returned his car to the government but Mulayam continues to ride the SUV given to him.

The estate department had proposed that Mulayam should be asked to return the car but Yogi reportedly rejected the idea. He said Mulayam was a veteran and he should not be asked to return the car until he does so on his own.

“Before making a formal proposal for cars, I thought it best to talk to the CM first. This was over a month ago when I joined my present posting,” said UP estate officer Yogesh Shukla.

“The CM said there was no need for a new car. Then I told him as the other car is with Mulayam Singh, we should ask for its return and keep it on standby. The CM said it will be inappropriate to seek the car back. He said that estate department’s old bullet-proof Prado car could be used as backup when required,” he said.

The car used by Akhilesh had undergone ‘shudhikaran’ (purification), just as the CM’s official residence, after Yogi took over.