Garhshankar (Hoshiarpur, Punjab): At a time when politicians amass wealth worth crores in a matter of a couple years in power, there is also a two-time legislator who doesn’t even own a house and lives by the roadside.
Shingara Ram Shahunggra, an ex-MLA of BSP from Punjab, was evicted from an irrigation department house on Sunday where he had been living illegally for the past few years. He has now erected a tent on the side of road where his wife and two sons, cook, eat and sleep. The family uses the washrooms of one of their neighbours.
Shahunggra is probably the only ex-MLA in Punjab who never built a house for himself in all those years. He was MLA in 1992 and 1997 from the Garhshankar constituency in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district.
Shahunggra is no longer associated with the BSP as he was expelled from the party a few years ago. "I was thrown out of BSP after I sided with Kanshi Ram's family when they were trying to reach him in his last days," Shahungra said.
"I am looking for a place to rent with my meagre MLA pension of Rs 20,000 a month, but till then I will be living under the skies," Shahunggra told Times of India.
"I entered politics to participate in Kanshi Ram's mission to empower the lower castes and I never tried to make money during my two stints," Shahunggra said. "If I am seeing these days it is because of my refusal to indulge in corruption,” he added.
“When I was MLA, the salary was not enough to build a house and now I survive on my pension. I never thought of starting a business," said Shahunggra whose his elder brother is a dailywage mason and younger brother is a labourer in Greece.
Kandhi Canal executive engineer Vijay Gill said that the department had earlier got a decree for Shahunggra’s eviction and then orders from a civil court in 2005. "Our attempts to get the house vacated were foiled but we got it vacated with a magisterial order and police help," he said.
