NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has one of the largest residences among politicians in the country, bigger than even the Prime Minister’s official abode at 7 Race Course Road in size.

President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Hamid Ansari are the only others who can boast of set-ups more palatial than the politically potent 10 Janpath. But while Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Vice-President’s residence and 7 RCR are official residences , Gandhi’s home at 10 Janpath is specifically allotted to her, irrespective of her status as member of Parliament.

The Gandhi residence is spread over 15,181 sq m while the Prime Minister’s, is smaller at 14,101 sq m, according to the central public works department. The information was given in response to an RTI application by Dev Ashish Bhattacharya.

Rashtrapati Bhavan beats all other official residences as it is spread over 320 acres and is one of the largest properties for a head of state anywhere in the world. The V-P’s residence at 6 Maulana Azad Road covers 26,333.49 sq m.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi lives in a sprawling bungalow at 12, Tughlaq Lane, spanning 5,022.58 sq m, while Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been allotted a 2,765.18 sq m-bungalow at 35 Lodhi Estate. Interestingly, the Himachal Pradesh government had denied information related to properties belonging to Vadra, citing security concerns since she is an SPG protectee.

“Delhi does not have a problem giving this information but the HP government has been unwilling to disclose residential land purchase details of Priyanka Gandhi citing security reasons. Not only this, Priyanka Gandhi herself vehemently opposed the disclosure of official file noting relating to her three land purchase deals on security and privacy grounds,’’ Bhattacharya said.

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