Not Rs 1 lakh, now Rs 50k needed to personally wish Mayawati on her birthday

Pay Rs 50,000 to extend personal birthday wish to BSP supremo Mayawati on her 62nd birthday on January 15. The cost of personal birthday wish to the BSP chief has been reduced by half in view of dwindling stakes of the party following its crushing defeat in the last three elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, the price tag was Rs 1 lakh. Last year, the birthday of the BSP supremo was a low-key affair due to the enforcement of model code of conduct for 2017 Assembly polls. But after tasting a little success in recently-concluded urban bodies’ polls, the party has decided to celebrate her 62nd birthday on January 15 again as ‘arthik sahyog diwas‘ (monetary support day).

Ever since Mayawati ascended to power in Uttar Pradesh in 1995, she has been accused of using her birthday celebrations to raise funds for the party as well as add to her personal wealth. Besides receiving glittering gold, diamond-studded sets as gifts and Rs 1000 currency note garlands on birthdays, she allegedly bought commercial properties in Cannaught Place and palatial bungalows in Delhi and Lucknow’s posh Mall Avenue and Cantonment from the money raised on her birthdays.

From 11 crores in 2004, her wealth …read more