BJP ministers might have to sweat it out before they can occupy their allotted bungalows, as former RJD ministers have decided to resist the move to make them vacate their plush government houses.

On Monday, a group of former ministers met and decided to challenge the order. 'The housing department has issued the direction without providing us suitable alternative arrangements,' said former RJD minister Chandrika Rai, pointing out that he was a six-term MLA and deserved a Category V accommodation as per the Bihar Assembly rules. Several other former ministers have mooted the idea of moving court.

According to the rule, ministers are allowed to retain their accommodation for a month after demitting office. 'After that a notice is served to which we are asked to reply. If they are not satisfied with the reply, the department sends a legal notice asking the occupant to vacate it. Thereafter, it is empowered to take steps to get the house vacated,' said a former minister, pointing out that all former ministers asked to vacate their bungalows were yet to receive legal notices.

After the Grand Alliance collapsed on July 26, the bungalows occupied by Tejashwi, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Tej Pratap, Chandrika Rai, Jalil Mastan, Ram Vichar Rai, Muneshwar Choudhary, Anita Devi, Vijay Prakash, Shivchandra Ram, Madan Mohan Jha, Abdul Gafoor and Chandrashekhar were allotted to BJP ministers.

Former deputy chief minister Tejashwi, who enjoys cabinet minister status owing to his position as leader of Opposition in the Assembly, was asked to shift to 1 Polo Road, the bungalow occupied by deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi. Sushil, in turn, was allotted Tejashwi's 5 Deshratna Marg residence, triggering allegations of political vendetta from the RJD.

Recently, RJD chief Lalu Prasad declared that Tejashwi will not make an issue of the matter and Sushil could go and stay there. However, Tejashwi is yet to vacate the bungalow.

The Vidhan Sabha secretariat, which is supposed to provide accommodation to legislators, pointed out that MLAs get Rs 28,000 per month for renting an accommodation in Patna. They pleaded that there was a shortage of accommodation as many of the bungalows and houses had been razed to the ground to make space for new buildings to accommodate lawmakers.

However, former RJD ministers pointed out that the state government was adopting double standards. 'Several former JDU ministers like Shyam Rajak, Lesie Singh and Ranju Geeta have been allowed to retain their bungalows even after they were removed three years ago. Bungalows have been allotted to even non-legislators. It's only in the case of former RJD ministers that they have been asked to quit their houses immediately,' said another former RJD minister, pointing out that after the collapse of the JDU-BJP government in 2013, most of the senior BJP leaders were allowed to retain their bungalows. 'How can there be two sets of rules for the same thing?' he asked.