CM house gets facelift for Soren

Till August 29, when Koda vacated the CM8217;s bungalow, the Cabinet Secretariat and Building Construction Department had spent about Rs 4.88 crore on the the bungalow which housed the South Chotanagpur Divisional Commissioner in undivided Bihar. When Koda became CM on September 18, 2006, he occupied the house, retaining his official bungalow in Deen Dayal Nagar. When he quit last month, Koda vacated the CM8217;s bungalow and returned to his old bungalow.

Like his predecessor, Soren is going to retain his Morahabad bungalow. In fact, Soren had all along been resisting attempts by the state government officials to vacate him from the bungalow. Though Soren was not available for comment, JMM secretary Madan Naik said he was not aware of his party chief8217;s position regarding the old bungalow. 8220;In such matters, he takes the decision and nobody can dispute it,8221; explains Madan. Secretary Building Amrendra Pratap Singh too has no clue about what the CM planned to do with his old house.

Meanwhile, the boundary walls of Morahabadi bungalow were being fitted with barbed wires. A Soren aide, said this is necessary as 8220;Guruji will be staying in both houses8221;.