The Congress has failed to pay the dues for three bungalows, including 10 Janpath, an official residence of Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, bungalow no. 26, Akbar Road (office of the Congress frontal wing Seva Dal), bungalow no. C-II/109, Chanakyapuri. This has been revealed in an RTI reply by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
In reply to an RTI filed by activist Sujit Patel from Mithapur, Gujarat, the Ministry said the dues for 10, Janpath were last paid in September 2020 the monthly rent accounted for the same is Rs. 4610/- only. For the 26, Akbar Road bungalow which is a type VIII property next to Congress’ headquarters at 24, Akbar Road, the monthly rent for which is more than Rs. 12 lakh has not been cleared since December 2012.
The Bungalow in Chanakyapuri which is used as a residence,occupied by Vincent George, personal secretary to Sonia Gandhi has been in possession of the Congress Party with a monthly rent of Rs. 5,07,911/-. Dues for the same has not been deposited since August 2013. The ministry’s response to the RTI came on February 7. 2022.
Earlier in 2020, the Directorate of Estates, under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has resurrected a two-year-old proposal to evict the Congress from the four prime properties: 24 Akbar Road (which houses the All India Congress Committee headquarters since 1976), 26 Akbar Road (Congress’ Seva Dal office), 5 Raisina Road (Indian Youth Congress office) and CII/109 Chanakyapuri. The directorate had first moved this proposal in 2018. The eviction proceedings had first been initiated by the government in January 2015.
Spread across 5,181 square meters in New Delhi, 10 Janpath has remained the private residence of Sonia Gandhi since the time of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991. Reportedly, the property is bigger than 7, Lok Kalyan Marg which is the official residence of the Prime Minister of India. The current Congress headquarters of the Congress party – 24, Akbar Road lies right behind this property possessed by Sonia Gandhi.
BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya on Thursday claimed that Sonia Gandhi has not paid house rent for the bungalow on Janpath for as long as one and a half years. The BJP leader took a dig at the Opposition leader and said that she was vocal about paying ticket charges for the migrant workers but didn't even pay her rent.
Amit Malviya took to his Twitter handle and shared a reply to an RTI application claiming that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has defaulted rent for the past 1.5 years. Sharing details of the same on Twitter, Malviya took a dig at the Congress leader and her approach to the migrant workers' travel setup during the COVID-19 induced lockdown.
