The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Madhya Pradesh: CM Kamal Nath spends Rs 38 cr redoing homes of 28 ministers

    Synopsis

    “The chief minister, since the last seven months, has still not reached the CM’s house."

    Kamal-Nath---PTIPTI
    Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath (File Pic)
    NEW DELHI: Nearly Rs 39 crore has been spent on refurbishing the houses of new Congress ministers in Madhya Pradesh, including the chief minister’s residence in Bhopal where Kamal Nath is still to move in since last December, former BJP minister and MLA Narottam Mishra said.

    Mishra has cited a written reply given to him in the state assembly by the government on Thursday, saying Rs 38.47 crore has been spent by the state public works department (PWD) to renovate and refurbish the official bungalows of 28 new ministers.

    “The chief minister, since the last seven months, has still not reached the CM’s house. Our CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan stayed in the same residence for the last 15 years but I am unable to understand what is lacking in that house that Kamal Nath has not moved in there for seven months now and constant repair and renovation is being carried out there. This is wastage of the state’s resources,” Mishra said.

    He accused the Congress government of not granting money for cremations under the former government’s Sambhal scheme. “But they are wasting so much money on renovating official bungalows. In fact, new houses from scratch could have been built with Rs 39 crore,” Mishra said.

    State PWD Minister Sajjan Singh Verma, however, claimed the figures were not correct and said a very small amount of money had been spent.

    “Such was the desperation and frustration of the BJP ministers when they lost power that they even uprooted taps and pipes from the government bungalows before vacating them. We had to hence carry out some repairs to make them livable,” Verma told ET.

    State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal alleged that Kamal Nath was still to move into the CM’s residence as the same was “very simple as per the lifestyle of the former BJP CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan and not up to the extravagant way of living of Nath”.

    Agrawal said workers from outside the state have been carrying out renovation at the CM’s residence for the past seven months, hence Nath had not stayed there for even a day.


    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
    (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 News, Budget 2024 Live Coverage, Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

    ...more

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
    (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 News, Budget 2024 Live Coverage, Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

    ...more
    The Economic Times

    Stories you might be interested in