No Vacancy

For a dozen UPA ministers, it has been an easier task to get to the treasury benches than finding a home in the Capital. Several members of ...

For a dozen UPA ministers, it has been an easier task to get to the treasury benches than finding a home in the Capital.

Several members of the former regime have flatly refused to move out of their Lutyens8217; bungalows. Among them are at least three NDA ministers 8212; Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Yadav and Yashwant Sinha.

To complicate matters further, Leaders of the Opposition L.K. Advani and Jaswant Sinha have written to Union Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad not disturb their flock. Joshi, they stated, cannot be asked to move out of the Type-VIII the highest category bungalow because of 8216;8216;security reasons8217;8217; and Sinha should be spared the trouble because of his 8216;8216;senior status8217;8217;.

This came as reply to Azad8217;s letters to Advani and Singh, asking for help to get these bungalows vacated. 8216;8216;Twelve ministers are still living in guesthouses and Janpath/Ashoka hotels, costing the government money. Azad even met the BJP leaders to sort the issue,8217;8217; a close aide of the Urban Development Minister said.

But, there are also those who will not move in, if their kundalis do not match that of the house. Case in point is that of Minister of Communications/IT Dayanidhi Maran. He was allotted 1A, Sunehri Bagh Lane former Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson K.C. Pant8217;s residence, but he refused to move in.

Joshi8217;s 6, Raisina Road bungalow was allotted to Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. But before the Ministry could reclaim the property, the former HRD minister got elected to the Rajya Sabha. Similarly, Sharad Yadav8217;s 7, Tughlaq Road residence was allotted to Health Minister A. Ramadoss. But with Yadav not willing to budge, Ramadoss is forced to stay at AIIMS guesthouse. Sinha8217;s retreat 8212; 6, Kushak Road 8212; was supposed to go to Small Scale and Agro Industries Minister Mahavir Prasad. But, he has decided to stay put. According to the norm, the former ministers should have moved within a month of their losing the portfolios/elections.

8216;8216;We do not deny that Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Sharad Yadav are senior MPs. But they are no longer ministers, they even lost the elections. How can they continue to live in Type-VIII bungalows,8217;8217; asks a Ministry official.

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While Joshi and Sinha were not available for comment, Yadav said he has written to the Ministry that he will vacate when 8216;8216;they provide me with an alternative accommodation of whatever cateagory8217;8217;. The Ministry controls the general pool of accommodation, while the house committees of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are supposed to provide homes to MPs.

8216;8216;But the UPA ministers have not sent notices to anyone, we expect them to vacate the houses on their own,8217;8217; says Azad8217;s aide. So, Labour Minister Sisa Ram Ola is waiting for Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia to move from 1, Sunehri Bagh Road. 8216;8216;But Uma Bharati has cooperated. Her bungalow has been given to Jagdish Tytler,8217;8217; officials add.

Also, there are MPs like former law minister Arun Jaitley who has kept the swank 9, Ashok Road bungalow to himself, but has never lived in it.

waiting in queue8230;

8226; Meira Kumar, Cabinet Minister She is living in her house in New Friends Colony

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8226; Panabaka Lakshmi, Minister of State, is still lodged in room 317, Andhra Bhawan

8226; Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, Minister of State is in Room no. 204, Tamil Nadu Bhawan and blames BJP MPs for not vacating bungalows

8226; Suryakanta Patil, Minister of State, is in Room no. 110, Maharashtra Bhawan is still awaiting an official bungalow

8226; Dayanidhi Maran, Minister for Communication and Information technology is also without a house and is staying at the BSNL guest house.

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8226; Taslimuddin, Minister of State, has Room no 329, Janpath Hotel as his official residence and is waiting for his recently allotted house to be renovated

8226; Akhilesh Singh, Minister of State is also without a bungalow and is listed as residing at Room no. 210, Bihar Niwas

8226; EVKS Elangovan, Minister of State is also waiting for his allotted bungalow to be renovated before he can move in

8226; Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, Minister of State for Water Resources was informed on Saturday evening that he has been allotted a house and is yet to see it. Present residence is Room no. 205, Bihar Niwas

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8226; K Venkatapathy, Minister of State awaiting renovation of a bungalow before he can move in

Living above entitlement

8226; A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury, Cong, 12, Akbar Road

8226; Lt. Madhav Rao Scindia present occupant son Jyotiraditya, Cong, 27, Safdarjung Road

8226; K. Karunakaran, Cong, 9, K.M. Marg

8226; Basudeb Acharya, CPI-M, 4, Ashoka Rd

8226; Ajit Singh, Lok Dal, 12, Tughlaq Road

8226; Maneka Gandhi, BJP, 14, Ashoka Road

8226; Ananth Kumar, BJP, 6, Akbar Road

8226; Vinod Khanna, BJP, 4, Circular Road

8226; Satya Narain Jatiya, BJP, 4, Kushak Road