Abhishek, Aishwarya and Amitabh Bachchan at the ‘Bhoomi Puja’ for the college in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. (AP file photo)
New controversy for Amitabh Bachchan. The superstar has been accused of violating an agreement to build a girls' college in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. The college was announced by the superstar in January, 2008; he said it would be named after his daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. But now, Bachchan has reportedly re-gifted parts of that land to an NGO run by actor Jaya Prada, who's also a Samajwadi Party MP.
The village head for Daulatpur accuses Bachchan of fraud and of re-gifting the land. The complaint also says that after an elaborate ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone, no progress has been made in constructing the college. Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya, Jaya Bachchan, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh had all attended the inauguration ceremony.
Mayawati has repeatedly been accused of using politics to settle personal scores with the Big B and his close friend, Samajawadi Party leader Amar Singh. So in this case, it's treading cautiously. So far, action has been restricted to the district administration ordering an inquiry.
''We have constituted a five-member committee to look into the allegations. Prima facie it seems like a civil case, '' comments Vikas Gothalwal, District Magistrate, Barabanki.
This is not the first time that land ownership in Barabanki has caused trouble for Bachchan. He was taken to court on the charges that Mulayam Singh Yadav had illegally allotted another piece of land in Barabanki. Land ownership which would have helped Bachchan buy a farm in Pune. The allotment was cancelled in the local courts in Uttar Pradesh, but later upheld by the Supreme Court which gave Bachchan a clean chit.
In January 2008 Bachchan bought another piece of land from local farmers in the Daulatpur area to set up the Aishwarya Rai Girls Degree College. Many said this was his way of wiping the slate clean in Barabanki, after embarrassing corruption charges.