HOUSE THAT!

It's the season of house-hunting in Lutyens' Delhi. And a clamour is on among the Big Winners to get as close to Sonia Gandhi as possible

HOUSE THAT!

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HOUSE THAT!

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It's the season of house-hunting in Lutyens' Delhi. And a clamour is on among the Big Winners to get as close to Sonia Gandhi as possible

For more than ten years, Ram Vilas Paswan managed to retain the most powerful neighbourhood for an Indian. A lost election is going to change all that.

The Lok Janshakti Party chief resided at one of the most-sought-after bungalows, 12, Janpath a stone's throw from Sonia Gandhi's official residence at 10, Janpath for the full term of the National Democratic Alliance and the United Progressive Alliance governments.

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However, what many of his political rivals could not do the Indian voter did. He has to move out now as he lost the election from Hajipur.

The plush bungalow may go to some "close confidantes" of Madam Sonia Gandhi, Congress sources told MiD DAY. And Paswan won't be the only one to be shown the door.

Another Bihar heavyweight, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, may be spared the ignominy of leaving his official residence after his party was routed at the hustings, the sources added.

Twenty-one out of 24 candidates of Lalu's party lost this time. The former Railways Minister may also not be considered for a ministerial berth as a meeting of the core committee of the Congress party on Sunday took a serious note of his anti-party statements in the run-up to the election as well as his alliance with the SP and the LJP. But sources say he may retain his bungalow.

Renuka Chowdhury, Mani Shankar Aiyar, AR Antulay and Shakeel Ahmad all Cabinet ministers in the outgoing UPA government are not that lucky.
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They will have to leave their luxurious Lutyen's Delhi bungalows as they could not manage to win the electoral battle. And these will be occupied by new winners.

Already there is a clamour among the winners for the preferred addresses. Not everybody would get the most desired bungalows, the ones near Sonia's residence, that is.
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For Mamata Banerjee, though, the election results would translate into an exalted status, as she has been a key UPA partner.

The former Congress firebrand, who quit the party to form the Trinamool Congress, is all set to occupy a powerful address. She has been living in MP flats at the Baba Kharag Singh Marg and at a sub-urban locality in Kolkata.

A Member of Parliament is eligible for a rent-free accommodation in Lutyen's Delhi, one of the most expensive places to own a house.
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In fact, barring some properties at Prithviraj Road and Aurangzeb Road the area is full of Raj-era bungalows, painted white, reflective of the colour preferred by those who walk the corridors of power.

Pay or perish

A former Member of Parliament has to vacate the official residence within three months after which he/she has to pay rent as per the market price to the government, which, considering the locality, may run as high as Rs 1 lakh a month or more.

Power-house: Mani Shankar Aiyar's residence at 14, Akbar Road (above) and Shakeel Ahmad's official house 7, Ashoka Road

The big losers

Sadhu Yadav - 15 A, Janpath
Ram Vilas Paswan - 12, Janpath
Renuka Chowdhury - 76, Lodhi Estate,
Mani Shankar Aiyar - 14, Akbar Road
Shakeel Ahmed - 7, Ashoka Road
Shankersinh Vaghela - 7, K Kamraj Lane
Raj Babbar - 20, Mahadev Road
Govinda Arun Ahuja- 126, South Avenue
Vinod Khanna- AB 8, Purana Quilla Road
Manvendra Singh-u00a0 32, Mahadev Road
Ram Kripal Yadav- 8, Mahadev Road
Suresh Prabhu- 59, Lodhi Estate
Nikhil Kumar- AB-91, Shahjahan Road
Raghunath Jha- 14, Teen Murti Lane