Uttar Pradesh ministers fear to be Chief Minister's neighbour

 

“This used to be one of the most sought after residence among ministers, mainly because of its proximity to the Chief Min-ister’s residence but now, no one seems to be ready to take it,” said an official of the UP estate department.

 

In 1995, when the BSP came to power for the first time, party leader Ram Lakhan Varma became the proud occupant of this bungalow. He was considered a close confidant of the then CM Mayawati and called the shots in the first BSP government. 

 

Within the next six months, he fell from grace and was shown the door. He finally met a tragic death when his own pet elephant trampled him over.

 

Another VIP resident of this bungalow was former SP leader Amar Singh, who was allotted the house as chairman of the UP Development Council. The entire bungalow was renovated to suit Mr  Singh’s tastes and the VIP guests in this bungalow included superstar Amitabh Bachchan, industrialists Anil Ambani and Kumarmangalam Birla. Mr Singh later fell out with his party, had a prolonged ailment and a brief stint in jail.

 

Babu Singh Khushwaha, Mayawati’s most trusted lieutenant till 2011, was the next occupant of the bungalow. He also lost the faith of his political boss, was ousted from the BSP and is now languishing in jail in this NHRM scam.

 

In 2012, the bungalow was allotted to SP minister Waqar Ahmad Shah. A few months later, Mr Shah suffered a stroke and has been in coma since the past two years. The bungalow has now been allotted to Javed Abidi, an SP leader, who has been appointed chief of UPDESCO.

 

A former caretaker of the  bungalow said, “It is not haunted but the person who lives here loses his political clout and falls on bad times.”