Click to play videoSrinagar: Sixty-six rooms, 14 presidential suites overlooking the picturesque Dal lake, built a cost of Rs 11 crore - Hari Niwas isn't the conventional Chief Minister residence.
But then again, Ghulam Nabi Azad isn't a conventional Chief Minister. The white, sprawling mansion is the sixth official Chief Minister's residence in the last 20 years in Jammu and Kashmir, and Azad's second.
"We have got the most talented artisans and are using special wood for this house. It will be completed in one and half months,” says constructions in-charge at Hari Niwas Riyaz Ahmad.
Azad has had equally proactive predecessors. Former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Saeed built a house that cost the state exchequer Rs five crore and Farooq Abdullah tried to build one adjacent to the Hari Niwas before his government fell in 2002.
However, Hari Niwas is the costliest yet. It also falls in the Green belt in Srinagar, where the state government had previously barred construction as a conservation practice for the Dal lake.
But that didn't stop the Azad-led state cabinet from deciding to redo the house.
This has managed to sufficiently raise the hackles of the Opposition. "They say Azad sahib has got a great taste and aesthetics and that is why he chose this place. He is a great politician but he should know where to spend money. We will certainly raise this issue on the floor of the House,” says senior leader of National Conference Ali Mohammad Sagar.
Building palatial bungalows for themselves has become a trend for the state’s chief ministers, leading many to believe that the present day politicians fancy being kings of the past.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
PHOTOGALLERY
