BENGALURU: Miffed after the state government’s refusal to allot him the official residence of his choice, opposition leader and BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa has rejected the No. 4, Race Course Road residence that has been offered to him now. The house sought by Yeddyurappa — No 2, Race View Cottage along Race Course Road — has been allotted to Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh.
The issue surfaced after the state released a notice on the official residences allotted to various ministers and the opposition leader, on June 30. Soon after the list was published, Yeddyurappa rejected it as the state did not heed to his request. He had approached Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy with the appeal earlier in June, as he had stayed at the same bungalow rather than the official residence for Karnataka CM — Anugraha.
Yeddyurappa will entertain visitors and supporters at his private residence in Dollar’s Colony in the city. He had stayed at the Race Course Road residence during his tenure as Deputy CM and CM, until his eventual arrest in 2011.
Commenting on the issue, he said, “Since the CM has not heeded to my request, I have decided to reject the house allotted by the government. I will be staying at my own house during my visits to Bengaluru,” he said.
Space, vaastu, likely reasons No 2, Race View Cottage, according to sources close to Yeddyurappa, was sought by the BJP president due to the availability of large space in front of the bungalow. “He had asked for the house as it has accommodation to take care of a lot of visitors. The house that has been allotted to him does not have enough space for this,” he said.
Sources also added that during his stay at the bungalow, he had made several changes to the house for Vaastu compliance — another reason why he was insistent about having the cottage as official residence. Former Forest, Ecology and Environment minister B Ramanath Rai was the previous occupant of the house.
Apart from Race Course Road, the state government has many official residences, mainly located in the Central Business District, with houses on Palace Road, Jayamahal Road, Crescent Road and Sankey Road.