Manali woman told you can’t be PM’s neighbour, PM disagrees

There is, in fact, no such ban. Prema Devi finally shot off a letter of appeal to the prime minister and he replied, asking her to go ahead with the construction.

Officials admit that there is, in fact, no ban on constructing houses in Prini. But Vinod Kumar, SDM Manali, said security concerns had prompted them to demand that people need to take permission from the Superintendent of Police’s office. ‘‘Nobody has been harassed, as alleged,’’ he told The Indian Express.

But Prema Devi had quite a different experience. In her letter to Vajpayee, she wrote, ‘‘We pose no security threat to you, our most beloved neighbour whom we adore so much. We ourselves would guard you in the event of any trouble as you have done a lot for this village and your presence is nothing less than godly protection for us all. But local officials are harassing us and not allowing us to build a house at our ancestral plot.’’

Prema Devi told Vajpayee that her father-in-law and brother-in-law had been chasing officials for the past one year for permission. The stock reply they got in return: no building can be constructed near the prime minister’s cottage.

Vajpayee wrote back to say: ‘‘You too are dear to me. Please go ahead with construction of your house. You will have no problem. On my next visit, I will see you personally.’’

Another of Vajpayee’s neighbours faced similar stonewalling from the officials. ‘‘I threatened the administration with legal action if they tried to stop me. No rules have been framed and there’s no notification banning construction of residential quarters near the PM’s cottage,’’ said the neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, ‘‘I’m carrying on construction work. Officials now tell me I can add another floor to my house’’.