Amit Shah rents eight-bedroom government bungalow at just Rs 3,875 per month

DNA: New Delhi: Thursday, 04 September 2014.

The Congress Party rents five bungalows in Delhi. The rent? Less than Rs3,00,000 per month. Even this meager rent for bungalows each of which can fetch at least Rs10 lakh in monthly rent has not been paid up fully. The Congress owes Rs six lakh in rent to the government.

Welcome to the world of privileges and pelf in New Delhi which all political parties indulge in.

The ruling BJP is not far behind. The party has been allotted two grand bungalows in the capital at a monthly rent of about Rs1 Lakh. The BJP owes Rs3.5 lakh to the government.

BJP president Amit Shah has an eight-bedroom government bungalow to himself on a rent of Rs 3,875 per month. But imagine, he owes the government Rs1,875.

The amount that Shah pays for the house that he lives in is less than the HRA component of the salary of a government clerk.

To an RTI query, the Directorate of Estate replied that Congress has five addresses in Delhi: 24 and 25 Akbar Road, 5 Raisina Road and bungalow number CII/109 in Chanakyapuri.

The BJP occupies 11, Ashok Road, the party headquarters, and 14 Pandit Pant Marg, which is the Delhi office of the state unit of the BJP. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), CPI, CPI (M), BSP and Samajwadi Party have been allotted one bungalow each for setting up office.

Besides these, plots have been allotted to them for constructing offices. The Congress party and CPI (M) have three such plots. RJD, BJP, JD(U), DMK, AIADMK, TMC and SP have a plot each.

For these bungalows and plots political parties pay peanuts. "Rent for a three-bedroom house on Amrita Shergill Marg is Rs 3 lakh. A bungalow on Prithviraj Road is available at a monthly rental of Rs 4-5 lakh," said a real estate agent. The bungalows could be worth at least double this rental considering the huge lawns they have.

Some of these bungalows are rent out or given to friends for free by MPs for huge marriage receptions. The Directorate of Estate, which rents bungalows for short durations charges Rs 3,000 a day while some MPs whose bungalows have huge lawns some as big as a football field are known to charge up to Rs one lakh a day.

"We have bungalows which we let out to a minister or an officer who want to hold a private function at a daily rental of Rs 3,000," said an an official.