LUCKNOW: Just a day after he announced that all legislators would be entitled to purchase a luxury car up to a price of Rs 20 lakh from their local area development fund, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday withdrew the order in the face of nationwide uproar over the issue.
Akhilesh Yadav had on Tuesday allowed MLAs to buy SUVs and luxury sedans from the local area development fund so that they could travel to their constituencies without any inconvenience to serve the people.
Yadav had proposed that the " poor" legislators of the cash- strapped state could buy a car worth up to Rs 20 lakh from the funds meant for the development of their constituencies.
Akhilesh had announced in the UP Assembly that the MLAs could buy the four-wheeler for personal use from their local area development fund ( MLALAD or Vidhayak Nidhi ). He increased the annual MLALAD amount for each legislator from Rs 1.25 crore to Rs 1.5 crore for the five- year term.
The state has 403 MLAs and 97 legislative council members ( MLCs) and a Rs 20- lakh car for each of them would have put a burden of Rs 100 crore on the exchequer. The vehicle was to be registered in the name of the state government and would have had to be returned after five years. However, the legislators were given the option of retaining their set of wheels by paying the depreciated price.
The proposal had meant with heavy criticism and protests from the Oppistion parties, mainly the Bharatiya Janata Party, across the country.
"This is gross misuse of the constituency development fund and let me declare on the floor of the august House that BJP members will shun purchase of vehicles from the fund," Hukum Singh, a BJP leader in UP, had said.
Akhilesh Yadav had on Tuesday allowed MLAs to buy SUVs and luxury sedans from the local area development fund so that they could travel to their constituencies without any inconvenience to serve the people.
Yadav had proposed that the " poor" legislators of the cash- strapped state could buy a car worth up to Rs 20 lakh from the funds meant for the development of their constituencies.
Akhilesh had announced in the UP Assembly that the MLAs could buy the four-wheeler for personal use from their local area development fund ( MLALAD or Vidhayak Nidhi ). He increased the annual MLALAD amount for each legislator from Rs 1.25 crore to Rs 1.5 crore for the five- year term.
The state has 403 MLAs and 97 legislative council members ( MLCs) and a Rs 20- lakh car for each of them would have put a burden of Rs 100 crore on the exchequer. The vehicle was to be registered in the name of the state government and would have had to be returned after five years. However, the legislators were given the option of retaining their set of wheels by paying the depreciated price.
The proposal had meant with heavy criticism and protests from the Oppistion parties, mainly the Bharatiya Janata Party, across the country.
"This is gross misuse of the constituency development fund and let me declare on the floor of the august House that BJP members will shun purchase of vehicles from the fund," Hukum Singh, a BJP leader in UP, had said.
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