On the day he was quizzed by the income-tax department, Tejashwi Yadav lost his official bungalow at 5 Deshratna Marg, which has been allotted to his successor, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
"The allotments appear to be guided by political vendetta. Tejashwi Yadav is leader of the Opposition who enjoys the status of a cabinet minister. He could have been allowed to continue in his old residence. But he has been asked to shift to the bungalow of Sushil Modi," said former RJD minister Alok Mehta, whose own bungalow at 6 Strand Road has been allotted to JDU minister Manju Verma.
The allotment, notified by the building construction department on Tuesday evening, made it clear that even Lalu Prasad's other son, Tej Pratap Yadav, had lost his palatial bungalow at 3 Deshratna Marg and it has been earmarked for the chairman, Legislative Council.
Mehta is not the only minister to complain about political vindictiveness. "These allotments were made deliberately to insult us. I am a senior MLA and am entitled to a bungalow. There has been no attempt to make an alternative arrangement," said former RJD minister Abdul Gafoor, who was in Delhi when he learnt that his 3 Taylor Road house has been allotted to BJP minister Suresh Sharma.
As per the notification, which building construction minister Maheshwar Hazari said is as per law, departmental engineers have to ensure that the new allottees get possession of their bungalows within 15 days. Hazari said that under the law, once ministers cease to hold their posts they have to vacate their official bungalows within one month.
Over a dozen former ministers of the Grand Alliance government will have to vacate their ministerial bungalows.
They include 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.
Surprisingly, former education minister and state Congress chief Ashok Kumar Choudhary, who occupies 2, Polo Road, has been spared. Most of the new allottees are BJP ministers.
Rabri Devi had been allotted 10, Circular Road ever since she was leader of the Opposition in 2005 and continues to occupy the same as a former chief minister. However, when the Grand Alliance government came to power, two of the largest bungalows located nearby were allotted to Tejashwi and Tej Pratap. The building construction department was headed by Tejashwi and eyebrows were raised over the huge amounts spent for renovating the two bungalows.
Former finance minister Siddiqui has lost his 2 Stand Road house to road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav. Ironically, Yadav occupied the same bungalow before he had to exit the ministry in 2013 when the JDU snapped ties with the BJP. Yadav is now back in the ministry and will be taking back the bungalow as well.
