Although the government is not paying their hotel bills, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today asked External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and his minister of state, Shashi Tharoor, to vacate their five-star hotel suites.
Krishna and Tharoor have been staying in five-star hotels in the national capital for the past three months while awaiting official accommodation. Krishna was staying at the ITC Maurya hotel and Tharoor at the Taj Mahal Hotel.
On becoming the external affairs minister, Krishna was allotted a house on Thyagaraja Marg, which is being renovated. Tharoor, an MP from Thiruvananthpuram, was offered accommodation in the Kerala House initially and now has been allotted a house in Lodhi Estate, which is also under renovation.
Krishna is staying at the Maurya’s 16th floor Presidential Suite. The tariff is said to be on request. Hospitality industry experts say that the room tariff is in the range of Rs 1 lakh plus per night, although it can be negotiated.
Earlier, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said Krishna “is paying on his own and nothing is being paid by the ministry”.
He is in the hotel because “he doesn't have official accommodation”.