Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav may have made numerous promises before the polls but instead of adhering to the ones to help the citizens of the state, he has allowed MLAs to spend Rs 20 lakh of their constituency development funds to buy themselves cars.
Yes,yes you will get your car. Akhilesh Yadav with wife Dimple during a public rally. PTI
“Despite a financial crisis, the SP government has fulfilled all the promises it made in the party manifesto in the budget. We entitle MLAs to purchase vehicles upto Rs 20 lakh from their local area development fund”, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced in the state Assembly.
He said that value of the vehicle will be depreciated per year and after the end of five years the MLAs could deposit
the depreciated amount and hand over their vehicle.
“This will help MLAs, who did not have money to buy the vehicle”, Akhilesh said adding that the government would not
give any amount for maintenance of the vehicles.
Development funds are meant for the development of the MLA’s constituency and legislators are not usually allowed to spend the funds on themselves or their families.
The Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly has already said the move is a wrong one and that they would prefer to use the money for their constituencies.
Ironically the party’s poll symbol is a cycle and Yadav had even taken out a cycle rally while campaigning for the polls.
The party later attempted to back track with senior party leader Azam Khan saying that it was not compulsory for all MLAs to buy cars for themselves.
“This scheme is only for MLAs who cannot afford cars for themselves and it will help them travel in their constituencies,” he said.
Listen to what Firstpost blogger Shining Path had to say on the issue. You can also read Shining Path’s piece on UP’s criminal MLAs here.
