BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday allotted government bungalows to three former BJP chief ministers of the state. The allocation was made after the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered the former CMs to vacate government property.
Chouhan used his 'discretionary powers' to allow Uma Bharti, Kailash Chandra Joshi and Babulal Gaur to retain the government bungalows provided to them during their term. However, the courtesy has not yet been extended to Congress's Digvijaya Singh.
Reports say the three BJP ex-CMs applied for the re-allotment of their government bungalows. The Chouhan government then allotted them the bungalows on the basis of these applications. It is not clear from the reports if Digvijaya Singh too had applied for such a re-allotment.
Chouhan's move comes after the Madhya Pradesh High Court had on June 20 ordered the former CMs to vacate the government property. The MP High Court had given a month to comply with the order. However, the bungalows were still not vacated.
The HC order to vacate is in line with the Supreme Court's ruling for former elected officials to vacate government properties in Uttar Pradesh. The apex court had on May 7 held that former UP chief ministers cannot retain government accommodation after demitting office.
(With agency inputs)
