The least we can expect from a monk-chief minister is he will at least cut on luxuries of life. But it was quite a contrasting moment on Friday when Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited the family of slain BSF head constable Prem Sagar in Deoria district. The house was all decked up with a new AC, sofa and carpet for Yogi’s visit by the officials.

This was unprecedented and in bad taste even if this had been done for a non-monk politician. That the luxuries were arranged at the house of a slain soldier where the CM had gone to assuage the bereaved family members makes it more ironical.

Soon after the CM left, the AC and sofa were taken away by the officials. Sagar’s family members said they were taken aback when the authorities removed the air conditioner, sofa and carpet soon after the CM left.

“Officials took away the carpet, sofa and AC soon after Adityanath left our residence. Within 15 to 30 minutes of his departure, everything was gone,” Dayasagar, the brother of the slain BSF trooper said.

“Around 1 pm on Friday, officials came and installed an AC in our drawing room, placed a sofa and spread out a carpet on the floor. The CM was in our house for about half-an-hour and soon after he left, they began dismantling the AC and took away everything else,” Sagar’s son Ishwar Chandra said.

The Deoria district administration had installed a window air conditioner, put up a sofa and carpet at their home ahead of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s visit this Friday.

According to reports, Adityanath visited Sagar's family on 12 May at his native village Tikampaar to offer condolences and presented a cheque for Rs. 4 lakh. He also reportedly promised employment to Sagar’s children after they complete their studies.

The CM had promised to build a memorial for the martyr in the village. He also promised to build a school for girls on a 1.5-acre land, develop a park and build a concrete road leading to the village.

Head Constable Sagar was on patrol duty on 1 May along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir when Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) opened fire at Sagar and Subedar Paramjeet Singh and mutilated their bodies.

(With inputs from agencies)