CHANDIGARH: When an FIR was registered against
Vikas Barala for stalking and trying to abduct Varnika Kundu, the document said that he lived in house number 74 in Chandigarh’s Sector 7. However, a TOI investigation revealed that the house was not allotted to Vikas’s father, Haryana BJP chief
Subhash Barala. The property, spread across roughly 1,000 square yards was allotted to Haryana chief minister
Manohar Lal Khattar’s political advisor Deepak Mangla.
Documents accessed by TOI show that eight houses in Sector 7 have been categorised as ‘minister house’ and allotted to what is known as the ‘CM, Haryana pool’. No one but ministers and senior functionaries of the state can live here. Sources confirmed to TOI that even under the chief minister’s discretionary powers, the house can’t be allotted to an MLA or a political party chief.
Barala, however, has been living in this house for some time. Barala has also been allotted an MLA’s flat — number 51 in Sector 3 — which is being used as a BJP party office.
When contacted Barala’s aide told TOI the MLA had stopped talking to media. Mangla said he was in a meeting and would call back but didn’t. Amit Arya, Khattar’s media advisor, promised to call back after discussing the matter with CMO officials and Barala, but later did not respond to calls and messages.
Rajiv Jain, state media in-charge of Haryana BJP, who also lives in a house adjoining Barala’s said, “I have no knowledge on the issue.”