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Nitish Kumar’s government’s decision to allot two bungalows to senior MLAs sparks Opposition fury
Bihar Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Towari alleged that the two-bungalow norm is nothing but a way to mollify senior legislators who could not get ministerial berths.
The Bihar Cabinet cleared a decision on Tuesday to allot 15 houses from the Patna Central Pool as additional accommodation for senior members of the Bihar Legislature (who are not members of the Council of Ministers).
The Bihar government’s recent decision to allot two bungalows to senior MLAs who are not ministers has triggered Opposition fury, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal calling it a “misuse of taxpayers’ money”.
The Bihar Cabinet Tuesday cleared a proposal for the “allotment of 15 houses from the Patna Central Pool to senior members of the Bihar Legislature (who are not members of the Council of Ministers) as additional accommodation on standard rent, in addition to the constituency-wise earmarked accommodation in the Legislature Pool”.
This means that senior legislators, including the chairman and vice-chairman of the Legislative Council and the speaker and deputy speaker, will get an extra house in addition to the one allotted in their capacity as legislators. Beneficiary legislators will have to pay a nominal monthly rent for the additional house.
The RJD responded sharply, comparing this to the government’s November 2025 notice to its Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, Rabri Devi, to vacate her bungalow,
“On the one hand, the state government served notice to our leader and former CM Rabri Devi to vacate 10, Circular Road house, and on the other, it is offering two houses to senior legislators,” RJD national spokesperson Nawal Kishore told The Indian Express. “It’s extra luxury and a waste of the taxpayers’ money. The government should instead decide the criteria for bungalow allotment and categorise it on the basis of seniority.”
The two-bungalow norm is nothing but a way to mollify senior legislators who could not get ministerial berths, Bihar Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Towari alleged. “It is an irrational use of bungalows, which could have been allotted to officers and other government functionaries needing it genuinely,” he said.
Bihar Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, however, dismissed the allegations saying “too-much was being read into it”.
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“It’s being done in view of security protocol. While one bungalow can be used as residence, another can double up as an office. The government has earmarked one bungalow each for the 243 MLAs and 75 MLCs for the first time,” he claimed.
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