After losing their ministerial berths, 'red beacon' fitted official cavalcades and even support staff, former Cabinet colleagues of Mufti Mohd Sayeed occupying ministerial bunglows in both the capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar are now set to lose their 'cozy' accommodation too.
Ironically, majority of these first time ministers had refused to vacate their bunglows even after PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti decided to vacate the official residence of Chief Minister after the sudden demise of Mufti Mohd Sayeed on January 7, 2016.
Majority of these ministers especially from BJP and their PDP counterparts were clinging on to their official accommodations hoping for early formation of fresh alliance govt in the State.
With political uncertainty looming large and no visible signs of rapprochement between the estranged alliance partners the Governors' administration has now taken strong note of the long stay of the former ministers in the ministerial bunglows allotted to them after the oath ceremony on March 1, 2015.
The ministers were entitled to stay put in their free accommodation for a period of one month.
After the dead line was over the Governors administration waited for another fifteen days to allow former Cabinet Ministers to vacate on their own.
According to highly placed sources in the state Raj Bhawan, "the State estates department has been directed by the Governors administration to issue notices to former Ministers to vacate their official bungalows”.
According to these reliable sources the notices are likely to be served to them within next few days after completing the necessary paper work.
Meanwhile, cracking its whip on the long list of defaulters the State estates department has already managed to vacate more than 200 quarters, bungalows, and private buildings from the possession of illegal occupants including politicians, retired Government servants, media persons etc. The Governors administration has also decided to move swiftly to recover pending dues from politicians currently occupying prime properties in Jammu.
According to official sources an estimated amount of over 60 lacs is pending against politicians cutting across party lines and senior media persons.
