Priyanka, Sonia Gandhi on three-day visit to Shimla
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 16
Still awaiting the completion of her dream house, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, accompanied by her mother Sonia Gandhi, will arrive here tomorrow on a three-day private visit.
It is the ongoing construction of Priyanka’s house in the high-security zone of Chharabra which brings Sonia and Priyanka frequently to the “Queen of Hills”. Sources said the two are expected to stay here for three days at the high-end resort of Wild Flower Hall owned by the Oberoi Group. They will inspect the house during the stay here.
In fact, with President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit here on June 15, the area around Chharabra is under complete security. Since the area where the house is located is in the close vicinity of the President of India’s summer house “Retreat”, it is not open for public and enjoys complete privacy due to high security.
Even though it was way back in 2007 that Priyanka had bought a 4.25 bigha chunk of land in the pristine environs of Chharabra at a cost of Rs 47 lakh, her house still remains a dream. Keen to have everything made to her liking and perfection, the house which was nearing completion was completely dismantled in April 2011 and work started again with changes as per Priyanka’s demand. Several fruit trees including cherries and peaches have been planted on the vast expanse of land around the house.
It is still not certain whether the mother-daughter duo will land at the Kalyani airport in the vicinity of Retreat or will drive up to Shimla after landing in Chandigarh. Those associated with the construction work revealed that the cottage is almost complete and Priyanka will decide on further work, especially the slate roofing in the typical hill architecture style.
The Congress regime had, in 2007, granted permission to Priyanka for purchase of land in the high-security zone by relaxing Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, which bars non-Himachalis from buying land in the hill state. In fact, being in the vicinity of the Retreat, special permission was taken from the Rashtrapati Bhawan for allowing construction of a house in the area.
