The Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi spent over Rs 45 crore on the rebuilding and renovation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence at Civil Lines in the capital. The BJP’s allegations are based on the claims made by news channel Times Now Navbharat in a report telecast Tuesday.
“When Delhi was struggling with Covid, CM of Delhi was spending crores on getting his house renovated. In 2013, he used to say he will neither take a house, security or official vehicle. But he ended up spending Rs 45 crore on the renovation of his house,” alleged BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Bidhuri.
The AAP, which has not denied the charge on the amount of money spent, defended the move and said the property, a government-allotted house, was in a dilapidated state and was rebuilt on the basis of recommendations by the Public Works Department following three “serious” incidents.
“The house was in a dilapidated state, having been built… in 1942. After three serious incidents, which included the ceiling of the CM’s parents’ room falling, the ceiling of CM’s bedroom collapsing, and office ceiling collapsing, the Public Works Department recommended construction of a new house,” the Aam Aadmi Party said in a statement.
As per the AAP, a request was made to the AAP to make an assessment following the incidents. An audit was ordered and the recommendation was to rebuild the house. The Indian Express quoted officials as saying that Rs 30 crore was spent on the CM’s house while the rest was spent on his Camp Office on the premises.
Documents further show that the area of the CM’s house has also increased from 1,400 sqm in 2015 to 1,905 sqm now. The house, which initially included the ground and first floors, now also has an additional floor.
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According to The Indian Express, the break-up provided in PWD documents shows that apart from civil, electrical and plumbing work, smart lighting fixtures of different wattage and sizes (2,446 fixtures); energy efficient ceiling fans (80 fans); and a dumbwaiter lift (to deliver food) are part of the cost. The project also includes the installation of 23 curtains with fabric curtain track and motor.
AAP points to PM house
The AAP government has defended the decision to rebuild the house while stating that the cost needs to be seen in the context of what governments are spending on similar projects. “The estimate for the new Prime Minister’s sprawling house alone is Rs 467 crore, while the actual cost of the Central Vista project is estimated to be Rs 20,000 crore. Further, the renovation cost of the PM’s 7 RCR residence was three times the estimate. Just renovation was carried out at a whopping Rs 89 crore against an estimated cost of Rs 27 crore,” the party added in its statement.
“Repair work of Delhi L-G house alone has cost Rs 15 crore in the past few months… BJP is raising this non-issue only to divert attention from real issues. They don’t wish to respond to serious allegations made by former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik who has attributed the Pulwama attack to lapses of the Modi government,” it said.
The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, has demanded that CM Kejriwal own moral responsibility and resign. “Many projects were postponed due to Covid between 2020-2022 but work on CM’s house continued,” said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva.