Delhi churns every five years. The general election results decide the political fate of incumbent Members of Parliament (MPs), and there are new public representatives and their ideas for the country. Besides its broader impact on Parliament and governance, this churning has a personal dimension. Electoral loss means vacating the official housing that outgoing MPs lived in during their time in Parliament.
For MPs who were ministers or had longer tenures in the national legislatures, it means looking back at politics and their time in bungalows with spacious gardens, open verandahs and high ceilings. The incoming parliamentarians then start jostling for the most coveted housing in the heart of Delhi, these Lutyens bungalows.
The term ‘Lutyens bungalow’ is a misnomer. Contrary to popular belief, architect Edwin Lutyens did not design them. In the newly established capital city of Delhi, architects like Robert Russell, W H Nicholls, C G Blomfield, Walter Sykes George and Herbert Baker designed the residences of the colonial government officials. The allocation of these residences was straightforward — the higher an individual’s position in the British government, the larger and closer their accommodation to the Viceroy’s House. For instance, Teen Murti Bhawan, the residence of the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, was the largest and the closest.
During this time, the question of official housing for parliamentarians was not a significant issue. The Central Legislative Assembly, which started functioning in 1921, had 145 members and met for less than three months, splitting its time between Delhi and Shimla. Some assembly members also had official responsibilities in the colonial government and were entitled to government accommodation. The government also constructed smaller bungalows closer to Parliament House to house the other elected members.
The Speaker’s official residence
Some members, like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, had the means to buy their bungalows. The first elected President (as the Speaker was known then) of the central assembly, Vithalbhai Patel, was allocated the bungalow on 20 Akbar Road as his official residence. And nearly 100 years later, it continues to be the official residence of the Speaker of Lok Sabha.
In 1946, the legislature secretariat faced the problem of accommodating almost 300 Constituent Assembly members tasked with drafting the Constitution of India. The end of the Second World War provided an opportunity in this regard. A barracks complex close to Parliament House, which had housed American armed forces personnel was now vacant and available. The assembly secretariat requisitioned these barracks, and the building was renamed Constitution House.
The secretariat ensured each unit had telephones and members had access to European and Indian food. Most Constituent Assembly members stayed in these barracks during their time in Delhi. Members also had the option to stay in private hotels like the Imperial and Maidens, where room charges were higher than those of Constitution House. The barracks and its dining hall became the forum for discussion on constitutional matters, and active members like Hari Vishnu Kamath and Shibban Lal Saxena exchanged notes on their amendments with their colleagues. By the end of 1946, a club for members called the Constitution Club started near these barracks and became another venue for these discussions.
However, not all Constituent Assembly members resided in the Constitution House. Rajendra Prasad lived on Queen Victoria Road (now named after him), Jawaharlal Nehru’s official residence during his time in the Constituent Assembly was on York Road (now Motilal Nehru Road), Vallabhbhai Patel on Aurangzeb Road (now APJ Abdul Kalam Road), etc. Post-independence, the government constructed houses closer to the Parliament House complex to cater to 400 plus MPs.
In 1952, Parliament also established procedures for allocating houses to MPs and set up a House committee to deal with these matters. The government also divided the different types of bungalows in Delhi into pools, such as those for ministers and officials, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha members. The two houses’ committees now decided on the housing allocation for their members. They use criteria like the number of tenures in Parliament, previous positions like ministers in state or union, etc., to decide whether an MP gets a large bungalow or a smaller residence. The presiding officers of the two Houses can also intervene to get an MP an accommodation higher than their entitlement. Contrary to public opinion, most MPs now live in single and multi-storey apartment complexes closer to Parliament.
Abuse of housing privileges
Over the years, MPs have used and abused their housing privileges. Using official accommodation also means that members had to vacate the premises when they left public office. In the beginning, members were quite prompt in doing so. When B R Ambedkar resigned as law minister, he quickly vacated his bungalow. However, with time, former members and ministers started occupying these premises for long periods after leaving office and paying minimal or no rent.
The charm of the Lutyens bungalow has enabled the government to dangle it as a carrot to political leaders to win their support. Over the years, public angst against housing privileges has grown, prompting Tavleen Singh to comment, “…more privileged Members of Parliament live at taxpayers’ expense in a style to which they should never have been allowed to grow accustomed. No modern democratic country pays through its nose to accommodate its officials and elected representatives in homes that only billionaires can afford”.
The writer looks at issues through a legislative lens and works at PRS Legislative Research
