Addressing the press, Parsekar made it sound as if that was always the plan, which Herald has proved , wasn’t quite so. The under secretary’s (general administration) order, within a week of Parsekar taking over as chief minister, stated that sanction was accorded for his official Mahalaxmi bungalow to be used a camp office and bungalow bearing F-0-2 type F at Altinho as his “official residence”.
The ostensible temporary nature of such a arrangement and his magnanimity of surrendering his lucky F type bungalow, which he occupied during his stint as health minister, was on display after Herald’s expose and the subsequent sharp political backlash.
“You should go and see the house. The roofing has been removed. How can I stay there?” he asked journalists on Friday. When it was pointed out that the order said that the house was going to be used as an office, he said that they were using the basement as a camp office till the maintenance/renovation was completed.
“I have not made any loss to the government. I have not taken any other house on lease,” he said adding that he would shift out (of his present bungalow) once the CM residence was completed.
“This will take another 5-6 months to repair,” he said.
The buzz is that this is no ordinary repair. It will be an overhaul for the new CM. And how much will it cost us. A tardy sum of Rs 50 lakhs. Small change in the grand scheme of housing our chief minister in a manner fit for a king.
