The union ministry of housing and urban affairs has sent a notice to Lok Sabha lawmaker Chirag Paswan, asking him to vacate the government residence in the national capital allotted to his late father Ram Vilas Paswan, sources told CNN-News18 on Monday. The bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi are owned mainly by the Centre and allocated to union ministers, Members of Parliament, bureaucrats, judges, officers of the armed forces, etc. According to the sources, the latest notice for the 12, Janpath residence was sent to Chirag on July 14. They also indicated that this was possibly the second or third such reminder. Since a reshuffle of the union cabinet last month, many new ministers have taken oath and have become eligible for bungalows.
The verdant VIP zone of the capital designed by British architect Edwin Lutyens in the early 20th century with its spacious residences, precious tree cover and signature landmarks is home to many of India’s most influential people.
The houses, however, are limited, and the pressure to find homes for new ministers and officials rises because of the propensity of many residents to overstay.
38-year-old Chirag Paswan has stayed in the house for several decades as it was occupied by his late father who had the penchant of remaining a central minister no matter which party or alliance was in power. For this reason, Ram Vilas Paswan was known as the “weathervane of Indian politics”.
Sources told CNN-News18 that Chirag has sought an extension of stay with the government, stating that he is undertaking a yatra in the memory of his father in Bihar. Those close to the young MP said the family wants to retain the house till the first death anniversary of Ram Vilas Paswan who died on October 8 last year following prolonged illness and hospitalisation.
According to sources, the government offered the house to union minister Pashupati Paras, the estranged uncle of Chirag, but he refused. Paras, along with four other MPs of the Lok Janshakti Party, staged a political coup in June when they broke away, voicing disapproval of Chirag’s stance towards Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United). Paras replaced Chirag as the LJP’s leader in the Lok Sabha and was elected national president of the breakaway faction.
Terming this treachery, Paswan junior has undertaken an Ashirwad Yatra, and has been touring the whole of Bihar, telling the people of the state how his own family members have betrayed him and that his faction continues to be the real Lok Janshakti Party.
Chirag had taken over from his father as LJP national president in 2019. He attacked Bihar chief minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar ahead of assembly polls last year, claiming that the people of the state wanted a change in leadership and he was helping the Bharatiya Janata Party form its own government. The BJP, which had backed Kumar for a fourth consecutive term, distanced itself from Chirag’s actions. It later recognised Paras as the LJP leader in the Lok Sabha and inducted him into the union cabinet.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.
Comments
0 comment