Bhopal, December 19: Madhya Pradesh's new Chief Minister Kamal Nath has re-allotted the official bungalow to former CM Digvijaya Singh, which the latter was forced to vacate under the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government. An official of the State Home department said Nath has exercised his "discretionary powers" to re-allot the Bungalow no. B1- Shyamla Hills to Digvijaya.

The official further added that Digvijaya is entitled for an official residence as he is a Rajya Sabha MP, apart from being an ex-CM. He further pointed out that Chouhan had allowed to former chief ministers Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur and Kailash Joshi to reside in official bungalows despite a high court ruling which necessitated them to be vacated. Digvijaya Singh's Number Propped up in Letters Exchanged by Naxals, Confirms Pune Police.

In July this year, the Madhya Pradesh High Court, while ruling on a petition filed by a Jabalpur law student, ordered that the bungalows allotted to former CMs should be vacated. The bench had termed it a "waste" of taxpayers' money and unnecessary burden on the exchequer.

Chouhan had drawn flak when he said that he would be using his discretionary powers to "at least allow the BJP leaders" to retain their bungalows. Digvijaya, on the other hand, vacated the bungalow without submitting an application to the CMO for consideration.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 19, 2018 09:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).