Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan speaks in the Rajya Sabha. (Press Trust of India)
Samajwadi Party created a ruckus in the Rajya Sabha today after its leader Neeraj Shekhar was served eviction notice by the Urban Development Ministry. Mr Shekhar is the son of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar and a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh.
As soon as the Question Hour Began, Samajwadi Party leader Jaya Bachchan raised the issue seeking Chairman Hamid Ansari's protection over the issue, as other party members joined by Congress accused the government of doing so deliberately.
"I need your protection as one of our members, who is a two-term Lok Sabha member and has now come to the Rajya Sabha has been issued eviction notice from his official bungalow. I have been a victim of this, I need your protection... he has lived in this house since 1967," Jaya Bachchan said.
"The government's attitude is deplorable. Without offering any alternate accommodation, how can they evict him forcibly," another Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said.
This morning, a team of Delhi Police landed at the 3 South Avenue Lane bungalow in Lutyen's Delhi which agitated the Samajwadi Party. Mr Shekhar had petitioned the government that the bungalow be converted into a memorial in the name of his father who lived there for over four decades.
"Neeraj should not have raised this issue in the House. We will find a solution to this issue soon and he will be offered another accommodation," Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu told NDTV.
Officials of the Urban Development Ministry say that on July 10, after Neeraj lost his Lok Sabha elections, Centre asked him to vacate the bungalow.
When the government rejected it, he moved a district court. Government sources say, in court, Mr Shekhar had agreed to vacate this house by December 1 and that's why cops were sent to oversee eviction.
But now, Samajwadi Party member argue that the bungalow should be allotted to Neeraj Shekhar's name and the party plans to take this up with the Prime Minister's office.