PATNA, Jan. 11 -- Despite sharp attacks from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Bihar government's building construction department is moving ahead with plans to demolish the existing Bihar Niwas in New Delhi and replace it with a much larger facility, with demolition work expected to begin later this month. The new structure, a nine-storey complex in a 2B+G+6 configuration, will have roughly three times the built-up area of the current five-storey building and is budgeted at around Rs.123 crore. Tenders have already been awarded, and officials say the project is on track. Bihar Niwas, located in the heart of the capital near the Central Secretariat, has long served as both an office space for the state government and a transit accommodation for MLAs, bureaucrats and other dignitaries from Bihar visiting Delhi. The original building was completed and formally opened in 1994 by then chief minister Lalu Prasad, at a time when the RJD (then Janata Dal) dominated state politics and was in power. The decision to tear down the structure and rebuild has ignited a fresh round of political acrimony in Bihar, where the rivalry between Lalu Prasad's family-led RJD and chief minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) remains as intense as ever-even after the two parties briefly shared power in 2022-23 before Nitish switched back to the NDA alliance. RJD leaders have accused the Nitish Kumar administration of acting out of petty vendetta, claiming the real motive is to obliterate visible reminders of Lalu Prasad's tenure, including a plaque bearing his name at the entrance. "The building is aesthetically beautiful and structurally solid," RJD chief spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav told reporters. "It was renovated only a few years ago at a cost of nearly Rs.2 crore and can easily stand for another 50-60 years. There's not a single leakage or major defect even today." Yadav went on to charge that the government is squandering hundreds of crores of public money simply to bury Lalu Prasad's legacy - widely seen by the party's core Yadav and Muslim base as the champion of social justice - beneath fresh concrete, while ensuring the new structure prominently carries Nitish Kumar's name. "They've already fixed his plaque on the same wall in their hurry," he alleged, pointing out that the state is already stretched thin financially after rolling out a series of populist welfare measures ahead of the 2025 assembly polls. In response, JD(U) leaders have dismissed the accusations as baseless and insisted the redevelopment is driven purely by practical need. "The present Bihar Niwas simply doesn't have enough rooms to meet the growing demand, especially given its prime location close to key government offices," said party spokesperson Neeraj Kumar. "We want to add more accommodation so that ordinary visitors from Bihar-patients seeking treatment, job aspirants, families in distress - get better facilities when they come to Delhi." A senior official in the building construction department, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that CM Nitish Kumar had personally laid the foundation stone for the project in September 2024. The redesigned complex will utilise a higher floor area ratio (FAR) of 133, compared to the existing 88, resulting in a total built-up area of 19,720 square metres against the current 5,631 square metres. Once complete, the new Bihar Niwas will offer 75 regular rooms (up from 55), 11 suites (up from three), 19 studio apartments, and parking for 163 vehicles. Officials maintain that the expanded capacity is long overdue given the steady increase in footfall over the past three decades. With demolition scheduled to start soon, the project looks set to proceed regardless of the ongoing war of words - a familiar pattern in Bihar's deeply polarised political landscape, where even a state guest house in the national capital can become a flashpoint for old grudges and competing legacies....