Bungalow row intensifies in Bihar, VIP, HAM jump into fray

Patna, Nov 22

Amid the bungalow row in Bihar between leaders of the ruling Mahagatbandhan and the BJP, VIP President Mukesh Sahani on Monday joined the tussle, hitting out against BJP state chief Sanjay Jaiswal, whom he accused of talking like the chief of a "Sadak Chap" (unrefined) party.

"He is a state President of such a big party but his statement is similar to a person who is a leader of a 'Sadak Chap' party. He is behaving like a 'road side goonda' (hoodlum," Sahani said.

Jaiswal had earlier claimed that Sahani is working for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and that is the reason why Bihar government is not serving notice to him to vacate his official bungalow despite his term as an MLC ending six months ago.

"Mukesh Sahani is working on the direction of Nitish Kumar and hence he is staying in the government bungalow without any constitutional post. The bungalow was allotted toSahani after he became the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister in the NDA government," he said.

Sahani suddenly came into limelight after he gave a ticket to an upper caste (Bhumihar) candidate, Nilabh Kumar, to contest next month's Kurhani by-poll. Bhumihars comprise around 40,000 voters, while the Mallah community also has over 30,0000 votes. Sahani, who claims to be the "son of a Mallah" has a strong hold on his community, while it is expected that VIP candidate will cut the traditional Bhumihar vote bank of the BJP. This is the reason why Sahani came on the target list of saffron leaders.

The entire row was started in Bihar after the Building Construction Ministry served notices to former Speaker Vijay Sinha and two former Deputy CMs Tar Kishore Prasad and Renu Devi to vacate their bungalows. The ministry has also imposed a fine on them to the tune of Rs 2.30 lakh. Following the notice, Renu Devi came forward and said that the state government has not handed her over the flat, so how could she vacate the present bungalow.

Meanwhile, HAM leader Danish Rizwan said that BJP leaders are crying foul but the same party had thrown (LJP-Ram Vilas chief) Chirag Paswan out from his bungalow in Delhi. "They forget how they threw the photographs of Baba Sahab Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Ram Vilas Paswan on the road," he said.

The bungalow row is not new in Bihar. During 2015-17 when Tejashwi Yadav was the Deputy Chief Minister in the Mahagatbandhan government, he was staying at the 5 Deshratna Marg bungalow, whose interiors he had reconstructed for more facilities and comfort. When Nitish Kumar broke off with the RJD and formed the government with the BJP, the same Building Construction ministry had served the notice to Tejashwi Yadav to vacate the bungalow. It had also imposed a fine on him. He had vacated the bungalow in the direction of the court.

Now, sources have said that the RJD is taking revenge on the BJP by forcing former Deputy CM Prasad to vacate the same 5 Deshratna Marg bungalow.