LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Secular Morcha (SSM) founder Shivpal Yadav Wednesday shifted to the government bungalow vacated by Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati at 6 Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg here.
"After having 'puja and hawan', Shivpalji has formally entered the bungalow today on the occasion of Durga Ashtmi," an SSM leader said.
Yadav reached the bungalow with supporters this morning and performed religious rituals before entering it.
The Yogi Adiyanath government had allotted the bungalow to Yadav after Mayawati vacated it following a Supreme Court directive.
"I have been allotted the bungalow as there were intelligence reports of threats to me," Yadav had said after allotment of the bungalow.
"I am a five-time legislator and it has been allotted to me as a senior member of the state assembly," said Shivpal Yadav, who is Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother and the estranged uncle of party president Akhilesh Yadav.
While the Congress suggested favouritism in the allocation, saying Yadav was working for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP had defended the decision, saying "no politics should be seen in it".
While launching the morcha in August, Shivpal Yadav had said he felt neglected in the SP after Akhilesh Yadav took charge of the party.
Yadav has not quit the SP even after forming the morcha, which he says will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Mayawati vacated the bungalow after the Supreme Court struck down on May 7 an amendment to the Uttar Pradesh Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act that allowed former chief ministers to retain their government accommodation when their term ended.
After this, former CM's including Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Narain Dutt Tiwari, and Rajnath Singh had to vacate their bungalows in the state capital.
Shivpal Yadav, who was residing at his own Vikramaditya Marg residence, will be using the bunglow for running party activities, the SSM leader said.