The official residences of Giriraj Singh at Circular Road and (above) Sushil Kumar Modi at 1 Polo Road. Pictures by Deepak Kumar

Less than 24 hours after the JD(U)-BJP relations hit rock bottom, the MLAs of the latter are anxious to know whether the government would throw them out of their official bungalows or allow them to stay in them.

“After Nitish Kumar kicked us out from his ministry, it won’t be long before the state government asks us to vacate the government bungalows too,” said Giriraj Singh, former animal and fish resources minister, who is also a BJP MLC.

Singh, who has been extremely vocal in praising Nitish’s bête noire Narendra Modi, was allocated a government bungalow at Circular Road after he got the animal and fish resources portfolio in the NDA government.

A lover of animals, the BJP stalwart has goats, rabbits, hen and emu at the bungalow he stays in. Asked where he would shift the animals if forced to vacate the government bungalow, he said: “Kya kar sakte hai? Banjara logon ki tarah mere janwaro ke saath yahan-wahan bhatkenge (What can I do other than moving around with my pets like gypsies?)”

However, if a few BJP leaders are worried about the possibility of being thrown out, some are ready to vacate their bungalows as soon as the government provides them alternative accommodation.

Former deputy chief minister and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, Sushil Kumar Modi, said: “I am ready to vacate the government bungalow at 1 Polo Road. But before I vacate the bungalow, the government should provide me an alternative arrangement.” The 1 Polo Road residence is spread over 2 acres with servants a call away and staff quarters.

Another former minister and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Nand Kishore Yadav, too, is ready to vacate his bungalow provided he gets an accommodation that suits his new designation.

Yadav, who resides at 2 Netaji Marg, Strand Road, said: “I don’t have any problem vacating the bungalow, provided an alternative accommodation for Leader of Opposition is being allocated.” Both Modi and Yadav are legislators.

To their comfort, according to government rules, the former ministers who are also MLAs and MLCs, can continue staying in their bungalows.

“Rules say, all elected MLAs and MLCs in Bihar are entitled to government accommodation. In the present scenario, the former BJP ministers who were dropped continue to be MLAs and MLCs. In such a situation, there is little scope for their eviction from government bungalows,” state estate officer Shaligram Prasad said. He also said that the situation of immediate eviction arises only in the case of the chief minister who must vacate the official bungalow, in this case 1 Aney Marg, immediately after ceasing to be chief minister.

On where the government would accommodate the 11 ministers who would replace the BJP ones, an officer speaking on condition of anonymity said: “They would be asked to stay on the western side of Patna in the government bungalows on Strand Road, Hardinge Road, Circular Road and Desh Ratna Marg.”