Ex-MP evicted from official house

New Delhi/Mumbai, Sept. 18: The Republican Party of India chief, Mr Ramdas Athawale, was on Friday evicted from his government bungalow in Delhi after the ex-MP refused to vacate the premises triggering a violent reaction when his supporters attacked the newly renovated Mumbai Congress office.

The belongings of Athawale, who lost the recent Lok Sabha election from Shirdi in Maharashtra, were on Friday removed from his Lodhi Estate residence for overstaying despite repeated reminders to him to vacate, officials said. Mr Athawale was not at home when the action was taken.

A team of officials of the directorate of estates under the urban development ministry, which allots accommodations to MPs, went to his residence and removed all his belongings.

Mr Athawale condemned the action as a “political vendetta” of the Congress, for joining a Third Front ahead of next month’s Assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Mumbai Police arrested 23 persons in connection with the attack on the newly renovated office of Mumbai Congress, which was stoned and some window panes broken. The office was inaugurated by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi just this week.