NEW DELHI: Barely days after serving a notice to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to vacate the 25, Lodhi Estate bungalow, the housing and urban affairs ministry has allotted this accommodation to Anil Baluni, head of BJP’s media cell and a member of Rajya Sabha.
Confirming this, a housing ministry official said the allotment has been made taking into account the August 1 deadline set for Priyanka to vacate the bungalow. “In several cases, government accommodations are allotted to the eligible persons subject to vacancy. So, as soon as she vacates the house, the Rajya Sabha MP can move in,” said a source.
Baluni is currently staying at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Road. It’s learnt that Baluni’s current accommodation has been allotted to a sitting Rajya Sabha MP. The government cancelled the allottment of the bungalow to Priyanka on the ground that after the withdrawal of security cover by Special Protection Group (SPG), she had ceased to be eligible for the government accommodation.
Currently, BJP veterans L K Advani and M M Joshi and former Youth Congress president M S Bitta are the only exceptions who have government accommodation without holding official positions or being MPs.