10 Rajaji Marg

operate from there. According to sources, theministerislikelytovacatethebungalow in April, after the Uttar Pradesh elections, as he is busy with the poll campaign. Sources closetohimsaidhehasaskedforatype-viii bungalow in return.

The10rajajimargquartersisspreadover an area of 11,776 sq feet, with the ground floorhousingalibraryandanattachedreadingspace.mukherjeeisreportedtohaveexpressedadesiretohave“ahousewithagood reading and writing space”.

Earlier, the government had finalised Bungalow No. 34 on Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Road (earlier Aurangzeb Road), which housed late Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma, for Mukherjee. Although a TYPEVIII property, the bungalow, currently occupied by Sangma’s family, is a singlestoreyed structure.

Kalam occupied 10 Rajaji Marg till his death in 2015, after which it was allotted to Sharma. The allotment had evoked strong reactions from some quarters following Sharma’s reported remarks that Kalam was “a nationalist despite being a Muslim”. There were demands that the house should be converted into a memorial for Kalam.

According to the President’s Pension Rules 1962, “a retired President shall be entitled without payment of rent to the use of a furnished residence anywhere in India at the choice of the retired President, without paymentofwaterandelectricitychargesfor the remainder of his life.”