Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal may still be house hunting, but his Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia seems to have zeroed in on his residence. Sisodia has set his eye on a bungalow on Mathura Road AB-17, which was previously occupied by former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
The said bungalow comes under Central pool and the Delhi Government has forwarded a request to the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in this regard. Kejriwal is also looking for spacious bungalow in lutyens zone. Sources said that the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) is scouting for bungalows on Mahdev Road, Bishambhar Das Marg and Pandit Pant Marg in New Delhi.
Top sources claimed that the Deputy Chief Minister has already forwarded this proposal. The Delhi Government has reportedly sent a request to this effect to the Ministry of Urban Development. As the Deputy Chief Minister, Sisodia is entitled to a type VII bungalow. The bungalow is lying vacant for the past few months.
Once the Ministry of Urban Development grants sanction to this proposal, Sisodia may move in this bungalow. This bungalow is located at a prime location, overlooking the Supreme Court and Pragati Maidan. The bungalow has two spacious lawns, ground floor and first floors having five rooms with four servant quarters.
Soon after Congress victory in December 1998 Assembly polls, then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit occupied this bungalow as her residence. She remained here for full six years between 1998 and 2004. In her second term, she shifted to 3 Moti lal Nehru place.
At present, Delhi Government’s six bungalows, which were constructed for Ministers, are lying vacant near Raj Niwas. The Ministers of then Sheila Dikshit Government had refused to stay in these bungalows, since 2011, due to personal reasons. After Sheila Dikshit’s regime, the Ministers of AAP Government also refused to stay here during the previous 49-day rule. Strangely, the present Ministers of Kejriwal Government too are not keen to occupy these bungalows.
These bungalows are said to be jinxed. Interestingly, the then Chief Minister Madan lal Khurana lived at 33 Shamnath Marg but he had to resign in the wake Jain Diary scandal. The bungalow was allotted to Deep Chand Bandhu, a Minister in Sheila Dikshit Government.
Bandhu died while living in this bungalow and since then this spacious bungalow was declared as a jinxed one. It was declared as State guesthouse. Its last occupant was Shakti Sinha, a 1979-batch IAS officer. Sinha resigned from service after one year. Soon there was no taker for this ‘jinxed’ bungalow.