Chandigarh: She spoke about her empty treasury, but when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati came to Chandigarh, she did everything in style.
The chief minister flew into the city in a private jet on Saturday. Her convoy was made up of seven to eight Toyota Land Cruiser Prados—two of them bullet proof. All of them were brought to the city from Lucknow.
City residents had never seen such display of luxury, not even by the chief ministers of Haryana and Punjab.
Given her Z-plus security category, Mayawati enjoyed security cover from the Chandigarh Police. Traffic was halted on roads whenever her cavalcade of 50-plus cars passed.
Mayawati did not stay in either the Punjab or the Haryana Raj Bhawan, as most chief ministers do. She also avoided the state-owned Hotel Mountview - the only listed five-star property in the city.
Instead, she opted for the luxurious Hotel Taj along with her entourage.
The chief minister, whose Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) does not have much hold in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, was here to address her first rally as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
Her mentor in politics, Kanshi Ram, hailed from Punjab's Ropar district, 45 km from here. She drove down to a village, 15 km from here, to spend time with the two sisters of Kanshi Ram and have dinner with them.
Although she said the treasury of the Uttar Pradesh government was empty, that did not stop her from giving a grant of Rs 30 lakh to the Chandigarh Press Club.
At the rally, her supporters presented her a gold crown as well as a sword.
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