UP's Yogi Adityanath entered the sprawling bungalow at 12.10 pm, chosen as a propitious time.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today moved into his official residence at Lucknow's 5 Kalidas Marg, which the Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav occupied till earlier this month and in which Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati lived some years ago. Yogi Adityanath entered the sprawling bungalow at 12.10 pm, chosen as a propitious time.
The bungalow has been stripped bare of all the furniture it housed previously - much of it belonged to Mr Yadav, who took his things along with him when he moved out. All walls have been repainted white or off-white and doors polished afresh.
Akhilesh's Yadav had a leather sofa in the living room, while Mayawati had preferred leatherite. Yogi Adityanath, a saffron-robed monk, will use only a wooden cot and plain wooden chairs.
Last week, seven priests offered prayers in the bungalow along with Yogi Adityanath, 44, who is the head priest at the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur, which sent him five times to the parliament as a BJP lawmaker. An idol of Gorakhnath, a 11th century saint will be installed in the UP Chief Minister's bungalow, sources said.
A nameplate bearing Yogi Adityanath's name - it reads Aditya Nath Yogi, Chief Minister - was installed at the bungalow on the day he took oath as Chief Minister.
As the house was prepared for him to move in, Gangajal or holy water from the Ganga river was sprinkled all over. It was called a "purification" ceremony, prompting Mr Adityanath's predecessor Akhilesh Yadav to joke that if he returns as Chief Minister in 2022 he will use a fire hose to douse the bungalow with Gangajal.
From neighbouring Bihar, BJP-baiter Lalu Yadav alleged that Yogi Adityanath felt the need for "purification" because Akhilesh Yadav, who belongs to a "backward caste," lived there before him.