Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana has allotted prime land in Gurugram to its own organisational unit, in wake of the land allotment to Associated Journals Limited (AJL) in the state.
In October 2016, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) had allotted 4,000 sq metre (one acre) plot for Rs 10.20 crore at the rate of Rs 25,500 per sq m in Sector 41, Gurugram. A letter to this effect was issued by the Estate Officer II, Gurugram, on October 14, 2016, in the name of the BJP, 30, HUDA complex, Rohtak.
As per government sources, the collector’s rate in Sector 41 varies between Rs 30,000 per sqm for a residential area and over Rs 1 lakh per sqm in a commercial area. However, plots have been offered at a much lower rate.
HUDA had issued advertisements for 18 institutional plots for offices of “recognised national political parties” and “state-recognised political parties” in eight districts of Haryana in May 2016. However, only the state unit of BJP applied for a plot in response to the ad. As sources quote, no other application was received.
BJP state unit was given this piece of land on the basis of its application, even as government sources claimed that all norms were followed for the allotment.
“We have detailed instructions for allotment of plots for religious organisations as also political parties. HUDA invited applications through an open advertisement to which only the BJP responded with an application. Since there was only one applicant, the allotment letter was issued after following the due procedure,” a senior HUDA officer said.
“The reserve price, revised recently by the BJP government, may be lower than the collector rate but is very high compared to the reserve prices in the previous government,” he stated, adding that e-auction was limited only to certain properties and sites meant for religious institutions and offices of political parties did not fall in this category”, another officer said.
“We are in the process of finalising the building plans for the BJP office. Once that is done, the foundation stone will be laid. The offer to get an institutional site was open to all political parties. We applied and got it. Every political party was equally eligible to apply. There has been complete transparency in the allotment,” state BJP chief Subhash Barala said.
