THE Indian politicians have left their counterparts in other countries behind in matters of greed and selfishness. The latest case is the unauthorized construction of posh bungalows in the Lutyens area of New Delhi. Lutyens is an area in New Delhi India, named after the leading British architect Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944), who was responsible for much of the architectural design and building when India was part of the British Empire. Lutyens laid out the central administrative area of the city. At the heart of the city was the impressive Rashtrapati Bhawan, formerly known as Viceroy’s House, located on the top of Raisina Hill. The Rajpath, also known as King’s Way, connects India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhawan, while Janpath, which crosses it at a right angle, connects South end road with Connaught Place. The Daily Mail has learnt on good authority from facts gleaned from Right to Information petition. The information released by the Central Public Works Department pertains to the unauthorized constructions at the ‘kothis’ (bungalows) of about 60 Members of Parliament from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Some of these constructions, which range from whole rooms and offices to temporary sheds, have been around for several years, and in some cases, were erected by the predecessors of present occupants. The list, which includes prominent names like L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley, Kirti Azad, Ahmed Patel, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sharad Yadav, Amar Singh, and Suresh Kalmadi, also includes secretariat officials at both Houses of Parliament and offices of political parties.An audacious instance of unauthorized construction is a temple in the plot allotted to N.K. Sapra, Additional Secretary (Lok Sabha), and a badminton court by Mr. Ram Jethmalani in his Akbar Road residence. While the CPWD claims to have filed notices to the Members of Parliament who have engaged in such unauthorized construction, the report also states that these structures will only be removed at the time of change in occupancy. The case came into limelight from a handful of letters that Nina Khanna’s husband Ashok had written to the police since 2004 complaining to the chief of police’s vigilance wing that the local police were helping the land mafia in grabbing his house—a one acre mansion on Lutyens area in New Delhi, worth about Rs. 200 crore.
Less than a month later, on September 11, Khanna was bludgeoned to death in the same mansion, his teeth fractured and his face bashed in. The house had been designed by Edward Lutyens, a friend of Ashok’s grandfather, Puran Chand. In 1987, Ashok’s father and uncles signed a deal with a private firm to build a housing complex. Little did they know that the locality would become the hotbed of controversy owing to the sleaze and perfidy of Indian politicians and a cause of death of Ashok. The members of Parliament and other Big Whigs of Indian politics mock their own rules for unauthorized construction in a city where the multitude is homeless and shelter less. Nothing could be more heartless than that. The average price of each bungalow is in excess of 200 crore, leaving the poor out in the cold, despite the fact that these MPs are elected by the tottering Indian masses to be their voice and chalk out a better future for them. The Indian MPs are busy feathering their own nest, being oblivious of the pathetic condition of their subjects – Dailymailnews
