(This story originally appeared in on Oct 28, 2015)

NEW DELHI: Union minister of state for culture Mahesh Sharma — the man who has sought to justify everything from the lynching of a Muslim man by a mob in Dadri, UP, to attacks on women — has just got a Diwali gift from the government. A first-time MP and a minister, of state rank though with independent charge, Sharma has been given a new address: 10 Rajaji Marg, which is a 1,094 sq m (11,776 sq ft) built-up bungalow on a sprawling 7,367 sq m land.

The house was occupied by former President APJ Abdul Kalam who died in July. Originally, it was a labour of love built for himself by Edwin Lutyens, the architect behind the section in the capital now known as New Delhi.

The move to allot Sharma the bungalow has drawn sharp reactions from other political parties.

The culture minister had drawn criticism when he praised the late former President for being a nationalist despite being a Muslim. He was even asked by the BJP to pipe down and keep a low profile. When asked about the renaming of Delhi's Aurangzeb Road as A P J Abdul Kalam Road, Sharma had then told a TV channel, "Aurangzeb Road ka bhi naam badal kar ek aise mahapurush ke naam par kiya hai jo Musalmaan hote hue bhi itna bada rashtravadi aur manavtavadi insaan tha, APJ Abdul Kalam. Unke naam par kiya gaya hai (Aurangzeb Road has been named after such a great man who, despite being a Muslim, was a nationalist and a humanist, A P J Abdul Kalam. The road has been named after him)."

READ ALSO: BJP tells Mahesh Sharma to pipe down, keep a low profile

Reacting to the news, Mahesh Sharma, today, said, "I am very happy and delighted that I have been allotted that house. I respect Kalam ji a lot. It has been allotted by the normal procedure."

The 547 sq m-plinth Type VIII bungalow is the only two-storey one allotted to a minister or an MP; the rest, even those occupied by the senior-most in the Cabinet like Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley, are single-storey. "This was constructed by Lutyens for himself and therefore he took the liberty of making an expansive structure," a senior CPWD official said.

And it seems a few rules were bent to dole it out to Sharma. "As per our rules, a Type VIII bungalow of this size is allotted only to Cabinet ministers or those holding cabinet ranks. As a minister of state and a first-time MP, he is not entitled to it," the official added.

The allotment came recently, after Kalam's kin vacated the house on October 18, a fortnight before their deadline was to lapse. Sharma is presently living in Noida, from where he was elected.

Sharma's 1,094 sq m built-up space dwarfs the bungalows of the seniormost in the government: Home minister Rajnath Singh's is a mere 385 sq m, finance minister Jaitley's is 727 sq m, defence minister Manohar Parrikar's is 621 sq m and transport minister Nitin Gadkari's is 715 sq m, all just ground-level. Where they can take some kind of a solace is that they all have bigger land area: Singh has 18,216 sq m, Jaitley 12,467 sq m, Parrikar 11,983 sq m and Gadkari 12,383 sq m. Other senior ministers who could feel claustrophobic, hearing the allotment of 10 Rajaji Marg to Sharma, are external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj who stays in a 322 sq m bungalow on a 6,026 sq m plot on Safdarjung Lane; urban development Venkaiah Naidu has a 400 sq m bungalow on a 6,230 sq m plot on Abdul Kalam Road (formerly Aurangazeb Road), women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi lives in a 703 sq m bungalow on a 5,915 sq m land on Ashoka Road and chemicals and fertilisers minister Ananth Kumar on a 285.77 sq m bungalow on a 6,096 m plot on Tughlak Crescent.

The last set of leaders opted to stay back in the same bungalow that were allotted to them by UPA government when they were members of Parliament.

These are some of the controversial statements Mahesh Sharma had made.

On writers returning awards If they say they are unable to write, let them first stop writing. We will then see.

On Dadri lynching If someone claims the incident was pre-planned, I completely refute this. What happened was an accident. It is unfortunate... You must also consider that there was also a 17-year-old daughter in that home. No one raised a finger on her.

On renaming roads I don't think Aurangzeb was an ideal person. Aurangzeb Road has been named after such a great man who, despite being a Muslim, was a nationalist, Abdul Kalam. The road has been named after him.

On 'cultural cleansing' We will cleanse every area of public discourse that has been westernised and where our culture and civilisation need to be restored — be it the history we read, or our institutes that have been polluted over years.

On 'secularism' I respect Bible and Quran, but they are not central to the soul of India in the same way as Gita and Ramayana are.

On western culture Western culture is not bad but it may not be good for us. Here, 15-year-old children don't leave their parents. A 14-year-old girl wanting a night out maybe all right elsewhere but it is not part of Indian culture.

On saffronisation If at all saffronisation has been done, it has been done by the 125 cr people of India. They knew what is the RSS, what is the BJP. They have given us a mandate to run the country.

On education Suppose, we teach in Hindi and say 'G for Ganesh', then we become 'non-seculars' and are blamed for saffronisation. But if we say 'G for gadha', then we are secular. This is not fair.

