Priyanka Gandhi arrives in Shimla

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, daughter of former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi, has been frequenting Chharabra village to inspect ongoing works at her under construction cottage. Priyanka Gandhi again arrived in Shimla on Thursday.

Priyanka, accompanied by an architect from Delhi, drove to Hotel Wildflower Hall from Chandigarh after flying in from Delhi in the afternoon. She will spend a day in Shimla to inspect her cottage at Chharabra village which is near-completion. The cottage is located 14 kilometer from the main town. The news of her visit had been kept under wraps owing to security reasons.

This is Priyanka’s fourth visit since last year. In 2015, she had visited the cottage along with her mother Sonia Gandhi. The under-construction cottage is located close to the President’s summer holiday retreat.

The site, spread over 3.5 bighas (a bigha is about 0.4 hectare), is situated at a height of more than 8,000 feet amid verdant pine and cedar trees. Priyanka bought the nearly one acre (4.25 bighas) plot in 2007 for Rs 47 lakh. Its present market value is estimated at Rs 1.5 crore per bigha. The-then Himachal government had relaxed norms under Section 118 of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act to facilitate the sale of land. Under the current land regulations, only permanent residents of the state can buy land in Himachal.

First Published: Jan 21, 2016 21:05 IST