Despite the end of Parliament, senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad have not yet received the notice to vacate the bungalow. Advani and Joshi are not members of either house since 2019. Azad was to retire in February 2021.
Congress leader and Chhattisgarh government’s Additional Advocate General Ashok Basoya tweeted that LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and MS Bitta Lutyens, who have Z+ security, live in Delhi’s government bungalow, but Rahul Gandhi’s rules are different.< /p>
Who can get a bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi?
In the year 1911, it was proposed to make New Delhi from Kolkata, the capital of British-ruled India. Edward Lutyens was entrusted with the task of preparing the outline of the infrastructure in the capital Delhi. Lutyens rebuilt New Delhi in 1912 around Raisina Hills. That’s why this area is also called Lutyens’ Delhi.
There are about 1000 bungalows in Lutyens Delhi right now, out of which 65 are private. Government officials, top commandants of the army, judges and MPs-ministers live in the rest of the bungalows. The work of allotting bungalows to MPs and ministers is done by the Estate Department of the Ministry of Housing. This department also maintains the bungalow.
There are 8 types of bungalows in Lutyens Delhi, which are named Type-1, Type-2, Type-3, Type-4, Type-5, Type-6, Type-7 and Type-8. Bungalows up to Type-IV are given to government employees and officers.
Type-5 and Type-6 bungalows are available to MPs while Type-7 and Type-8 bungalows are available to Union ministers, speakers, Supreme Court judges and army chiefs.
Many times the government gives Type-7 & Type-8 bungalows to senior MPs as well. For example, Sonia Gandhi got a bungalow at 10 Janpath. The government has made rules for allotting and vacating bungalows.
According to the new rule, the government will allot bungalows to MPs and SPG recipients in Lutyens’ Delhi. Apart from this, no person will get a bungalow. MPs get 30 days’ notice to vacate the bungalow after their membership expires.
If the bungalow is not vacated after the notice, then the government can forcefully vacate it. Apart from this, the government can also impose a fine of 10 lakhs on those who stay in the house for 8 months.
Not an MP, yet who has a bungalow?
There is no data on the website of the Estates Department. In the year 2021, the Press Information Bureau had said in a release that former MPs and ministers cannot get bungalows. Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs will get Type-7 bungalow only. It was further stated in the release that in special cases, the Cabinet Committee of Commendation can give bungalows.
Till now LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Subramanian Swamy, Ghulam Nabi Azad and MS Bitta have government bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi. In such a situation, let us know in detail why the former MPs have not vacated the bungalow till now?
1. LK Advani- After becoming an MP in 1970, LK Advani was allotted a government residence in Pandara Park. Advani stayed here till 2002. His bungalow was changed after the attack on Parliament in 2002.
Since 2002, LK Advani has been living at 30 Prithviraj Road, Lodhi Estate. Advani was a Lok Sabha MP till 2019, after which he did not contest elections. In the year 2020 itself, the Cabinet Committee of Commendation allotted the bungalow to Advani for life considering the threat to his life.
Advani has been the former Home Minister of the country and he has got Z+ security. Advani has received death threats in 2008, 2009 and 2020. In 2009, Advani had received death threats from Khalistan.
2. Murli Manohar Joshi- Former Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi has been allotted a bungalow on Raisina Road, Lutyens Delhi. Joshi was the MP from Kanpur seat from 2014 to 2019. In 2019, he decided not to contest the elections.
89-year-old Joshi has been the minister of departments like Home and Education in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government. Joshi has been an accused in the 1992 Babri demolition case. However, he was acquitted by the court in 2020.
Like Advani, Joshi has also been allotted a bungalow by the Cabinet Committee of Commendation citing security threat. Joshi has also got ITBP security.
3. Ghulam Nabi Azad- The Government has not yet got the bungalow vacated from Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Union Minister. Azad has been allotted a government bungalow at 5, South Avenue Lane, New Delhi since 2009. Azad retires from Rajya Sabha in February 2021.
After this there was speculation about taking the bungalow from him, but Azad left the Congress and formed his own new party. In the year 2022, when the question was asked to Urban Housing Minister Hardeep Puri about getting Azad to vacate the bungalow, his answer was that there are many such people now. The government is slowly getting everyone’s bungalows vacated.
Even after almost 2 years have passed, notice has not been sent to Azad by the department.
4. Subramanian Swamy- Former Union Minister and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has also not vacated his government bungalow till now. Swamy has retired from the Parliament in April 2022 itself. Swamy was nominated by the President from his quota in the year 2016.
Swami was allotted the AB-14 bungalow on Pandara Road in January 2016. Swamy was not nominated to the Rajya Sabha at that time. After the end of the tenure, Swamy appealed in the High Court. Swami says that the government will not be able to arrange security in my private house.
On January 2023, the final hearing in this matter has taken place. During the hearing, the court gave Swamy three weeks to vacate the house.
Apart from these four leaders, MS Bitta has also got a house. Bitta has also been given a house on the ground of security.
The Cabinet Committee of Commendation has Home Minister Amit Shah, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri as members, while Minister Jitendra Singh has been inducted as a special invitee. is.
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