While former MP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was asked to vacate the official bungalow (12 Tughlaq Road in Delhi) he occupied since 12 years with “bullet train speed” as seasoned Congressman Shashi Tharoor put it, in Gujarat, Purnesh Modi allegedly continues to occupy his ministerial bungalow. Claiming the gross anomaly, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Hemang Rawal tweeted:
“Purnesh Modi, who filed a case against Rahul Gandhi, is occupying bungalow number 11 near the Rajya Bhavan (in the state capital Gandhinagar). It still carries Purnesh Modi’s nameplate. He has not vacated it and is still using it.”
Rawal’s claims triggered an entire thread on Twitter with netizens questioning CM Bhupendra Patel on the same.
In fact, the state Congress charged the ruling BJP government with special “unofficial priveleges” for four ministers, all part of CM Patel’s first holding but not enlisted in the second innings. The other three include Jitu Chaudhuri, Kiritsinh Rana and Vinu Moradiya.
Accusing the Gujarat and Central government of joining hands in allegedly settling political scores with RaGa, Rawal further claimed: “The ministers continue to enjoy a life funded by taxpayer’s money. Those ministers who ought to be in these bungalows have been accommodated in circuit houses.”
Purnesh Modi is the man who brought about the defamation case, which awaits the next hearing in Surat. Legal eagles and Congress leaders have questioned Modi’s locus standi pointing out the faulty status of the case because a minister sitting in Surat and one who was not named by Rahul Gandhi was in no way infringed upon. “He has been used a pawn,” maintained Rawal, adding that Purnesh was minister of state for civil aviation, tourism and pilgrimage development in the Patel 1.0 edition that came to power in September 2021. Despite his re-election to the Surat (West) seat in the December 2022 Assembly elections, he was not awarded a ministerial berth.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat Congress also surmised a list of ministers in the Vijay Rupani government who continued to occupy official bungalows long after Rupani was asked to make way for the Patel-led cabinet. The list includes Nitin Patel, Saurab Patel, Ishwar Parmar, Vasan Ahir, Radhadiya Pradeepsinh, Bhupendra Chudasma and Ganpat Vasava.
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