MP runs up Rs 37 lakh bill in 6-month hotel stay

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress leader and Union minister Sultan Ahmed, who ran up a bill of Rs 37 lakh for staying in the five-star Hotel Ashok, has moved out after his party asked him to pay “all the extra expenses” from his own pocket.

“I have left Ashok Hotel. I am making preparations to pay the bills,” Ahmed said here but did not divulge
the amount.

The minister of state for tourism said he had been allotted an official bungalow “only a few days ago”
and was, therefore, staying in the hotel “as advised by the officials”.

Confirming that Ahmed had run up a bill of Rs 37 lakh, TC Lok Sabha chief whip Sudip Bandopadhyay said that Ahmed “has been asked to pay for all the extra expenses from his own pocket.” Bandopadhyay said Ahmed was a first-time MP and minister and was “asked by tourism ministry officials to move into Ashok Hotel. He was obviously misguided”.

He also said the party suspected the CPM, Left Front partners and “even some friendly parties” of being behind “efforts to defame” it.

According to sources, Ahmed was staying in a luxury category business suite comprising two rooms, whose going rate was Rs 20,000 per night. But it was given to the MoS at a rate of Rs 7,000 a night. They said the bills have already been referred to the concerned authorities, indicating the directorate of estates and the Lok Sabha Housing Committee.

Earlier, Ahmed had said that before becoming a minister he had stayed in a room at ITDC-owned Samrat Hotel for about a month. After becoming a minister, he moved into the Ashok and occupied a suite of two rooms.

Though he was allotted a ministerial bungalow, he could not move in as the CPWD could not ready it, Ahmed said.

He has been staying in room number 1434 of the Ashok for almost six months in the absence of a government house.

Ahmed said the party has asked him to pay from his pocket the difference between the room rent at Samrat Hotel and that in Ashok Hotel.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, asked Ahmed to “rectify his mistakes”. She also asked Ahmed to vacate the five-star hotel accommodation with immediate effect.

Bandopadhyay said his party “always favoured transparency” in public life and claimed “prompt action” was taken in this case as soon as the reports came in.