Senior Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) leader and former Union minister Murli Manohar Joshi’s bunglow in Prayagraj was today sold for Rs 6 cror, drawing to a close his six-decade long association with the holy city. His bungalow ‘Angris’, was situated in Tagore Garden, where the veteran leader had been staying since 1951 when he was the professor at the Allahabad University. He is likely to stay in Delhi with his daughters.

As per reports, his bungalow was sold out in four parts. He has sold his bungalow to his neighbour Dr Anand Mishra, his younger brother Anupam Mishra and two others. The registry was done at ‘Angris’ on Wednesday.

A BJP stalwart and former Union minister, Joshi has had a long association with Prayagraj. He is originally from Uttarakhand’s Almora district. After completing his BSc from Meerut University, Joshi joined Allahabad University to complete his MSc in 1951. After completing his studies he did his research under professor Devendra Sharma and gradually started teaching at Allahabad University.

Professor of Physics K Banerjee used to stay at the bungalow. Before leaving for Kolkata, he allotted the bungalow in the name of Joshi. In 1997, Joshi decided to reconstruct the building to give it a new look. It is from here that Joshi started hs political career and the bungalow stood witness to a number of important meetings, and also acted as his office during election campaigns.

It is from here that he won elections in 1996, 1998 and 1999, to be a three-time Member of the Parliament from the constituency, but lost the election in 2004. A number of senior leaders including former PM Atar Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani have been among the frequent visitors at the bungalow. Both his daughters also got married here.

The sale of the bungalow also signals an end to Joshi’s illustrious political career and may mark his official retirement from active politics. Allahabad was considered Joshi’s stronghold before he shifted to Varanasi in 2009 elections only to be replaced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when he was asked to contest from Kanpur. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party did not give him a ticket at all.