Ex-CM Vilasrao finally gets official residence in Delhi

Former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is setting up his home in Delhi. The move is seen as Deshmukh’s plan to say a temporary goodbye to state politics and settle down in the national political arena.

Almost a year after being sworn in as the minister for heavy industries and public enterprises, Deshmukh is likely to shift to his allotted bungalow on 14 Akbar Road, in the vicinity of the Congress headquarters and residence of party president Sonia Gandhi. His staff told DNA renovation work has been going on in the bungalow for the past few weeks and that the minister would move there within a week.

Deshmukh was unhappy with the condition of the bungalow and demanded that it be upgraded to meet his standards. It is learnt that the renovation work has been privately commissioned. The rules state that the CPWD cannot carry out renovation work if it has been done in the past 10 years. The bungalow’s previous occupant, former Panchayati Raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, had renovated it during his tenure.

As a central minister, Deshmukh was expected to stay in Delhi, but since his official accommodation was not up to mark, he was staying at a BHEL guesthouse at Asiad village in Khelgaon.

Deshmukh’s staff is happy that he will move to Akbar Road as it will spare them from the hassle of operating from a cramped guesthouse and travelling through the congested streets of Delhi.