From Sibal to Azharuddin: MPs who refused to leave govt houses easily

One of the many projects that Maharashtra’s new chief minister Devendra Fadnavis intends to take up, is the revamping and refurbishing of government quarters provided to officials and ministers.

Since the new Narendra Modi led BJP government won on 16 May 2014, a lot of the former UPA ministers were forced to leave there bungalows provided by the previous government. Some of them, did not take to the idea of vacating their homes, easily.

Some of them even had to be served eviction notices, before they finally vacated the properties.

We have drawn up a list of people who have had a tough time either vacating their homes or were not too willing to take up the ones offered to them by the government.

Kapil Sibal

In August this year, the senior Congress leader and  former law minister, left his Teen Murti Road residence provided by the erstwhile UPA government, only after the Urban Development Ministry sent him a notice,  reported  India TV News

Following that, he came under the spotlight again after he took up a new house on rent in Delhi’s posh  Jor Bagh area. Lutyens’ Zone in Jor Bagh is considered a very expensive and elite neighbourhood. Leading businessmen like LN Mittal, KP Singh, Sunil Mittal, Naveen Jindal and a several others own houses in the same area, according to the article by the Economic Times . Sibal is reportedly paying a rent of Rs 16 lakh a month to date.

Ajit Singh and Jitendra Singh

In September 2014, the power and water supply to the Delhi residences of former union minister Ajit Singh and ex- congress MP Jitendra Singh were cut off. The Times of India reported that the municipality had to take the step as they had refused to vacate the property, long after they were supposed to.

According to the Times of India report, a team of Delhi Police had been sent to Ajit Singh’s  Tughlaq Road bungalow to get the house vacated. Since he was out of the country they failed to do so.

A senior NDMC official told the paper_,_ “Power and water supplies have been disconnected to a total 30 houses occupied by former ministers and ex-MPs who are yet to vacate their government accommodations despite being given adequate time to do so.”

Sachin Tendulkar

The “God of Cricket” became a Rajya Sabha MP this year. Unlike our politicians, Tendulkar made headlines because he refused to accept the bungalow which was offered to him for being a Rajya Sabha MP.

He told NDTV , “I am not keen on staying in any government bungalow when I will be in Delhi for only a few days. I feel this would be a waste of tax payers’ money and it would be better if the bungalow is allotted to someone else who needs the bungalow more than me.”

Mohammad Azharuddin

In contrast to Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, the former-cricketer-turned-politician was happy to occupy a government bungalow. However, the Congress MP from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh too had to be ousted from his bungalow as he didn’t leave out of his own accord.

According to the report, Azharuddin’s house also lost water and power supplies. This was a way embraced by the urban development ministry to force the former ministers out of their houses, when they stayed on beyond the deadlines given to them.