Lutyens’ Zone: Sushma Swaraj to vacate, LK Advani & MM Joshi may retain bungalows

NEW DELHI: Former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is set to vacate her official bungalow in Delhi’s Luytens’ zone as she is not a member of the Union council of ministers or Parliament, as per norms of the government. Former civil aviation minister Jayant Sinha is also set to vacate his bungalow though he continues to be an MP.

However, ET has learnt that senior-most BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are likely to continue in their official bungalows due to security considerations even though they are no longer MPs. Their bungalows will be put under a special category of the home ministry which has authority over some of the bungalows in the national capital. The Directorate of Estates under the Union housing and urban affairs ministry, is otherwise in charge of allotting bungalows to Union ministers and MPs.

Prior to election results, there were reports that some ministers of the previous government, including Vijay Goel, Prakash Javadekar, Nirmala Sitaraman and Sushma Swaraj, had not cleared their dues on their official bungalows till February. This was based on a RTI reply of the housing ministry.


Replying to the RTI query, the ministry had said minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and minister for development of northeastern region, Jitendra Singh, also had outstanding payments. The dues were on furniture and other things provided at the bungalows.