Delhi was not the first new capital city the British constructed in one of its colonies. But it outshone every other capital constructed by them: Ottawa (Canada), Pretoria (South Africa) and Canberra (Australia). William Dalrymple writes about Rajpath or Kingsway in his book City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi: “It was planned as an imperial Champs Elysées complete with India Gate its own butter coloured Arc De Triomphe but it was far wider, far greener and far more magnificent than anything comparable in Europe…” The idea was to shock and awe, as the British wanted Delhi to intimidate Indian subjects with its style and grandeur.
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The Lutyens bungalows, however, aren’t exactly breathtaking. While they do stand in the middle of a large green lawn, there is something distinctly forlorn and forbidding about them. When the British constructed sprawling bungalows for their bureaucracy in the splendid new capital, they were never meant for permanent occupation: these houses were designed for temporary British residents who replaced each other like guests in a hotel.
A bungalow in in Motilal Nehru Marg | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
Post-Independence Parliamentarians continue with this trend, moving out at the end of their terms to make room for the next round of lawmakers. Some, however, stay on long enough for their identities to become fused with their address. Now, a new chapter for Lutyens’ Delhi is being drafted. The white-washed bungalows with large lawns and red compound walls remain the way they were built by the British, but the nameplates have changed in the eight years of the Narendra Modi regime.
Many well-known residents have either passed on or are no longer in power to hold on to these houses. There are, however, a few who have circled back to these homes via the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters.
Changes aplenty
Many more changes are in the offing. The BJP, which moved into a palatial office at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg in 2018, is still to relinquish its old office at 11, Ashoka Road. The Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri in a press conference on June 2 said that the government will be moving out the political parties from these bungalows. Congress too will have to vacate 24, Akbar Road which has been the Congress headquarters since 1978. It has sought more time.
Last week, socialist leader Sharad Yadav vacated 7, Tughlaq Road, where he had been living for 22 years. He stayed on, even after he was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha in 2017 for opposing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. He fought it out in the courts to retain the house. On May 31, Yadav and his family removed their nameplate, addressed one last press conference and drove out for the final time. The house is now being prepped for its next occupant, as per sources, a Supreme Court judge.
Sharad Yadav and his wife Rekha Yadav vacate 7, Tughlaq Road | Photo Credit: PTI
Biggest on the block
Former cabinet minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s family did not get the privilege of making a respectable exit; they were evicted on March 30 from 12, Janpath. The family ignored several eviction notices sent to them, hoping that the government would transfer the house in the name of Paswan’s son Chirag who is a two-time MP. The house, among the largest in Lutyens’ Delhi, is now being renovated for President Ram Nath Kovind, should he not get a second term after his current tenure that ends in July.
Each of these bungalows carries stories with it. For instance, 10, Janpath, which is currently the biggest among the 1,200-odd Lutyens Bungalow Zone, was once considered unlucky. Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was advised against moving into the bungalow in 1989 after he lost the general elections. It was believed that every resident of this bungalow meets an untimely death. Its vast grounds has an elephant’s grave. Lal Bahadur Shashtri had moved in here in 1964 after he became prime minister, and two years later he mysteriously died in Tashkent.
The bungalow once occupied by former presidents A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Pranab Mukherjee | Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan
In the last few years, many addresses that once changed the fortunes of the rich and powerful have found new tenants. Last September, Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s family vacated 23, Mother Teresa Crescent Road. For over two decades until his death in November 2020, it was here that the rise and fall of many Congress leaders was scripted. Today, there is a general decline in the Congress stamp in Lutyens’ Delhi. In April, another senior leader, A.K. Antony, bid goodbye to Delhi and will be handing over his 2, Jantar Mantar home.
The BJP leaders who are no longer eligible have also been read the riot act. Beginning March, the Directorate of Estates began a drive to remove the squatters. The list included many former ministers: Rajyavardhan Rathore, Rattan Lal Kataria, Ram Shankar Katheria, P.C. Sarangi and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
‘Welcome home’ parties
But it’s not just farewells; many are returning home to their Lutyens’ address. Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left the Congress to join the BJP in 2021, will soon be back at 27, Safdarjung Road, his home since the 1980s when his father Madhavrao Scindia first became a minister. Jyotiraditya won the Guna Parliamentary seat that fell vacant after his father’s demise and the house was allotted to him. He was forced to vacate it after his defeat in the 2019 general elections, after which the house was allotted to Nishank, who was education minister between 2019 and 2021. The house is being frenetically renovated for Scindia’s return. Workers of the Central Public Works Department are busy undoing some changes introduced by Nishank, including the doors and windows that were altered to comply to vaastu.
Scindia’s return to 27 Safdarjung Road may have drawn a few sniggers in political circles, but it is nothing unusual. In 2012, when Pranab Mukherjee became president he moved into Rashtrapati Bhavan, the erstwhile Viceroy House with 300 plus rooms and the largest of them all. Yet, he didn’t let go of 13, Talkatora Road where he lived 16 years. Not because the house was big or centrally located but because he believed it was lucky for him. Mukherjee’s office room as a minister in Parliament House was also No. 13 and as luck would have it, he went on to become the 13th President of India.
Bungalows be gone?
For several years now, there have been talks of demolishing Lutyens bungalows to make way for newer, more efficient living spaces. The first cabinet note was moved during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government when BJP Rajya Sabha MP Alphons Kannanthanam was urban development secretary. The issue was debated again in 2014 and in 2019 but a concrete proposal is yet to reach the Union Cabinet for a final nod. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which maintains these bungalows, often complains about the high maintenance cost and other structural issues.
However, an official with the urban development ministry points to the redevelopment of some of the smaller bungalows and flats in the recent past as a sign of things to come. In 2012, amidst much hue and cry, CPWD constructed 22 bungalows by bisecting bigger plots. The facade of these bungalows mimicked the British ones. As for constructing multistorey housing, more bungalows may be razed, but there is no blanket decision, says the official. For instance, in 2019, eight bungalows were demolished to construct 76 flats for MPs on Dr. B.D. Marg. According to sources in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the bungalows could be next on the agenda, after the ongoing Central Vista redevelopment.
