New Delhi: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan wanted a new official vehicle in 2016. After much deliberation, she chose a Jaguar, which she did not use as she found it uncomfortable.
ThePrint reported that the Lok Sabha Secretariat had then bought a white Jaguar XE Portfolio for Rs 48.25 lakh from the Delhi-based AMP Motors Private Limited. The secretariat had cited “security reasons” for opting for the high-end vehicle.
But in the little over three years since, the sedan is lying idle in the Parliament garage, government sources told The Print. Current Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla uses a Toyota Camry Hybrid worth Rs 36.74 lakh, according to a reply to an RTI filed by ThePrint.
A government source told ThePrint that Mahajan, who was the Speaker between 2014 and 2019, had used the Jaguar sedan, which has a mileage of 13 kmpl, only for a brief period as she found it uncomfortable.
“She stopped using it when she was the Speaker and instead began using the car she was using earlier — a Toyota Camry,” the source said. “Since then the Jaguar has been lying idle. No one else uses it. What is the point of buying a sports car at government expense and then keeping it idle?”
The Print mailed a questionnaire to Lok Sabha secretary general Snehlata Srivastava Wednesday but there has been no response.
Talking to ThePrint from Indore, where she now lives, Mahajan said that as Speaker, she had selected a Jaguar.
“I don’t have much understanding of cars,” she said. “My only concern was that it should be comfortable for me to get in and sit. There were two Jaguar models that I saw but what was finally bought was different from the one that I had chosen.”
According to Mahajan, the Jaguar XE Portfolio had little leg space. “I found it very uncomfortable to get in and sit in the backseat because of limited leg space,” Mahajan said. “So, I stopped using it after some time. Maybe the car is fine for people driving it themselves but not for somebody like me.”
The former Lok Sabha speaker said she does not remember who recommended the Jaguar. “I also don’t know who is using it now or if it is lying idle,” she said.
