Facelift to chief minister's bungalows at Rs 1.81 crore

The government had spent Rs 7.79 lakh for renovating the Race View Cottage on Race Course Road, where B S Yeddyurappa resided during his tenure as deputy chief minister from February 3, 2006 to October 8, 2007.

The same bungalow has been allotted to Yeddyurappa from May 30, 2008. Believe it or not, Rs 49.06 lakh has been spent again on repairing it! Interestingly, between 2004 and 2006, the government has not spent any money on repairing it. These details have been furnished by the CM himself in a written reply to an unstarred question tabled by H C Neeravari (JD-S) in the Council.

In case of Anugraha on Kumara Krupa Road, the designated residence of the CM, from 2004 till date, Rs 1.24 crore has been spent for the repairs. The highest expenditure incurred was between 2004 and 2006 when Dharam Singh had occupied the bungalow. His successor H D Kumaraswamy, between Feb 2, 2006 and Oct 8, 2007, had got the same building repaired by spending Rs 39.35 lakh. The present occupant, Yeddyurappa, has so far spent Rs 10.50 lakh on renovation.

Yeddyurappa said there are 27 bungalows reserved for VVIPs in Bangalore. Of these, 15 are meant for ministers. To a question as to why the government money is being squandered every time a new minister occupies a quarters, the CM has said minimum repair works are taken to make the bungalows occupation worthy.

Each and every bungalow meant for ministers have been repaired in the last five years. In all, the money spent on repair is Rs 7.01 crore. Ministers Revnu Naik Belamagi and Visveshwara Hegde Kageri - are staying in the Legislators' Home.