A month after the recent Cabinet reshuffle, perhaps the last before the 2019 general elections, only two junior Ministers, Ashwini Choubey and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, have received an upgraded house. Others, including the Housing Minister Hardeep S. Puri himself, are still awaiting a famed Lutyens’ bungalow.
Four junior Ministers were elevated to the Cabinet rank, while nine were appointed as Minister of State on September 3.
Mr. Choubey, the Brahmin face of the BJP in Bihar, who till now was staying in a Type-VI bungalow on Pt Ravi Shukla Marg, one of the back lanes of Lutyens’ zone, has got 30 APJ Abdul Kalam Road, which was vacated by Venkaiah Naidu after he became the Vice-President.
Mr. Shekhawat, meanwhile, has got a house on 22 Mother Teresa Crescent.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who were elevated from Minister of State to Cabinet ranks, have not asked for an upgrade, with a little more than 18 months remaining before the poll fever kicks in.
The obvious reason for this delay in allotting upgraded bungalows to the Ministers is that there is a serious shortage of Type-VII bungalows that Cabinet-level Ministers are entitled to.
Directorate of Estate that manages the Lutyens’ properties is in the process of getting first-time MP Conrad K Sangma to vacate 34 APJ Abdul Kalam Road, a Type-VII bungalow. It was allotted to his father, former Speaker P.A. Sangma, who lived in the house for 18 years till his death in March last year.
Mr. Sangma was allotted an alternate bungalow in December and was asked to vacate. “We were allotted 25 Ferozshah Road last year and we had packed our bags. The occupant of that house changed his mind and refused to move out. So we stayed on,” Mr. Sangma, National People’s Front MP told The Hindu .
Last week, he was given another option by the Directorate of Estate. “Elections in my State [Meghalaya] are now due in January, also my wife is expecting. So at this hour it will be difficult for me to move out, I have sought additional time,” he added.
Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S. Puri and Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons do not have any government accommodation as they did not hold any public office earlier and are neither Members of Parliament. A house has been identified in Lodhi Estate for Mr. Alphons.
Mr. Puri, meanwhile, has not started hunting for a Lutyens address yet. He stays at Westend Colony in the posh Anand Niketan and has reportedly told his officers that he is not in a hurry.
Others who are furiously searching for a better Lutyens’ bungalow include Ministers of State Shiv Pratap Shukla (Finance), R.K. Singh (Power), Virendra Kumar (Women and Child) and Anant Kumar Hegde (Skill Development). All of them currently reside in Type-VII bungalows.
