Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday cited the rulebook to defend his decision to keep two bungalows in Patna for himself, even as Sushil Kumar Modi - the main Opposition leader to raise the issue and allege impropriety - likened it to a person drawing pension as well as salary.

"There is misinterpretation," Nitish said at the JDU office in Beer Chand Patel Marg, when asked about the controversy. "One house is allocated for lifetime to any former CM and according to that I have been allocated 7 Circular Road, where I stay. As far as 1 Aney Marg is concerned it is allocated to the CM and that is from where I do my official work. I do not have any attraction for anything, I can work even from the road."

He added: "I do not mind if the BJP gives me a room in their office - I can stay there also. In fact, the rules say that any politician having their own house cannot stay in government bungalow but in the case of Sushil Kumar Modi it is different. Despite having a his own house, he stays in a government bungalow. I will ask Modi ji to give me his house on rent; I will not mind staying there because I do not have my own house in Patna."

Responding to the CM's clarification, Sushil wrote in a letter to Nitish: "If any MLA loses the election he gets pension, not salary. However, if that same MLA returns to the House after winning the election, he gets the salary not the pension. You keeping two bungalows is like taking both salary and pension."

In end-June last year, Jitan Ram Manjhi vacated 1 Aney Marg - the chief minister's official residence - to move to 12M Strand Road.

Nitish's former deputy Sushil had on Thursday questioned whether it was proper of the chief minister to occupy two sprawling bungalows in the heart of the capital when not all MLAs and MLCs had got a government accommodation each.

If Lalu-Rabri and their two minister sons can stay in one bungalow why does Nitish, who only has one son, stay in two bungalows, Sushil had asked, pointing to the scarcity of government bungalows.

"It appears that Nitish is not sure whether he will last the whole tenure," Sushil had quipped.

Nitish's deputy Tejaswi and JDU leaders Shyam Rajak and Sanjay Singh joined voices, flaying Sushil for raising a "trivial" issue. They pointed out that Rajasthan chief minister Vasudhara Raje occupies two government bungalows and stressed that Nitish needs the two bungalows for official work.

"After 30 years of political experience, Sushil is not left with any issue and now forced to count the residential rooms of Nitish ji and Laluji," said Tejaswi.

On Saturday, former chief minister Jagannath Mishra joined the attack. "If 1 Aney Marg is for official work then what is 4 KG?" he asked, pointing out that the chief minister already had his secretariat in a sprawling bungalow (7 Circular Residence), which is hardly a stone's throw from 1 Aney Marg.

4 KG is the chief minister's official secretariat, commonly known as Samvad.

"It is a glaring example of violation of the rules that one person is in two roles," said Mishra, who lives at the 41 Hardinge Road bungalow allotted to him last year. "How come Nitish occupies two bungalows in one capacity? He should stay at 1 Aney Marg, which is the official bungalow of the chief minister, and vacate 7 Circular Road."

1 Aney Marg has been the official address of the Bihar chief minister for quite long - right from the tenure of the late Bindeshwari Dubey.

The chief minister's official residence is located on a road named after the state's second post-Independence governor, Madhav Shrihari Aney, who held office from January 1948 to June 1952.

The process of expanding the boundaries of 1 Aney Marg began during the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi era when an adjacent bungalow was made a part of the CM's official residence. During Nitish's era, the adjacent bungalow was restored to a senior minister but a portion of another adjacent house was taken over for office.

However, Nitish is the first chief minister to occupy two official residences.

In 1992 - two years after he first became chief minister with the support of 39 BJP MLAs - Lalu faced revolt within his party. The RJD chief, apprehensive that he might lose the post of chief minister, passed a cabinet rule that any chief minister occupying the chair for two continuous years will get a government bungalow to stay. At the time, the only former chief minister entitled to get the facility was Jagannath Mishra.

In 1995, Lalu formed government with full mandate and he changed the rule again - that a bungalow would be given to only those chief ministers who occupy the chair for five continuous years. Mishra had to vacate the bungalow, as he never completed a five-year tenure despite being chief minister thrice.

In 2000, when Lalu went to jail in the fodder scam case and Rabri Devi was made chief minister, 5 Deshratna Marg, a bungalow next to 1 Aney Marg, was allotted to Lalu. The wall dividing the two bungalows was demolished for Lalu and his family to move about.

When Nitish came to power in 2005, the wall was sealed again and 5 Deshratna Marg was allotted to Brishen Patel, who was then considered close to the chief minister. Nitish, who had come to power after defeating the Lalu-Rabri regime, also tweaked the rule - in case of husband-wife as former chief ministers, only one house would be allotted. Hence, Lalu and Rabri have 10 Circular Road.

In 2010, Nitish again made an amendment in the rule, giving a government bungalow to all former chief ministers. During the Manjhi episode, Nitish allotted himself 7 Circular Road and earmarked it strictly for a former chief minister. However, he has not shifted to 1 Aney Marg after becoming CM again and continues to live at 7 Circular Road, which he had spent crores on furnishing and extending. There are two gates, one for the officials of the chief minister's secretariat to enter while only Nitish uses the second gate. There is a proper conference room, and another extension houses offices.

The two-storied 7 Circular Road bungalow has eight rooms, is spread over around 3 acres, and is 100 metres from 10 Circular Road in the same lane where Lalu-Rabri live with their two minister sons. The 1 Aney Marg bungalow is spread over 5 acres.