NEW DELHI, Feb 10: The rent of several government properties in Delhi occupied by Congress leaders, including the official residence of Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi, have not been paid for years.
The information came to light in reply to an RTI filed by an activist Sujit Patel. The RTI reply by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development states that there has been pending rent against Congress party headquarters on Akbar Road of ₹ 12,69,902 and the last time that the rent was paid was in December 2012.
Similarly, for Sonia Gandhi’s residence on 10 Janpath Road, there is a pending rent of ₹ 4,610 and the last rent received was in September 2020. Bungalow No. C-ll/109 in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, occupied by Vincent George, personal secretary to Sonia Gandhi shows pending rent dues of ₹ 5,07,911, to which the last time rent was paid was in August 2013.
As per the housing rules which allows accommodation to national and state political parties every party is given three years’ time to construct their own office following which the government bungalow will have to be vacated.
The Congress was allotted land in June 2010 on 9-A Rouse Avenue to build a party office. The Congress party was required to vacate the Akbar Road office and a couple of more bungalows by 2013 however the grand old party has taken multiple extensions so far.
In July 2020, the government had sent an eviction notice to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to vacate her Lodhi Road accommodation within a months’ time.
Taking a dig at Sonia Gandhi, BJP’s Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga alleged that she is not able to pay rent because she can’t do scams. “Sonia Gandhi ji not able to pay her rent after losing elections. It is obvious because she can’t do scams now but political differences aside I want to help her as a human being. I launched a campaign #SoniaGandhiReliefFund and sent ₹ 10 to her account, I request everyone to help her,” he said in a tweet. Bagga also shared a screenshot of money transferred by him to the account of the Congress interim chief.
(Manas Dasgupta)
