Ranchi District Administration on Saturday gave 48 hours ultimatum to former Agriculture Minister and BJP MLA from Sarath Randhir Singh to vacate the Government house he has been residing in, failing which he could be forced to vacate the palatial bungalow, officials said on Saturday.
A District Administration team led by Magistrate Shashi Neelima Dungdung reached his residence on Saturday to get it vacated. The Guards present at the MLA's house told the team that the packing of goods has started and Singh will vacate the accommodation in the next two days.
“If he fails to vacate the house in 48 hours, then we will have to take harsher steps,” she added.
The F-type bungalow located in Doranda has now been allotted to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Stephen Marandi but he has not yet got this bungalow. Marandi is currently living in quarter number 178 of the Russian hostel.
Meanwhile, a notice was issued by the department to vacate the Government residence of BJP MLA Naveen Jaiswal and for this the magistrate and other police officials were also appointed. But after the High Court order, his house will not be vacated immediately. On December 10, an order was issued to vacate the residence of MLA Naveen Jaiswal. As soon as the information was received, an application was filed by the MLA in the High Court.
Senior advocate Ajit Kumar, appearing for Jaiswal in this case, said that during the hearing, the court was informed of the situation. It was said that the hearing in this case is scheduled on December 14.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saw red in the government’s move and accused it of taking such steps with vindictive intentions. Citing the notice served to Singh, BJP state president Deepak Prakash said that the government was targeting former BJP leaders. “Governments will come and go, but the democratic protocols should not be forgotten. Randhir Singhji is also a government representative and he has the right to stay in a government bungalow,” said Prakash.
Singh was a minister in the former Raghubar Das Cabinet from 2014 to 2019.