New Delhi: To attack the former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘aam aadmi’ (common man) image, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released a video of his erstwhile Civil Lines residence which it dubs as ‘Sheesh Mahal’.
According to insiders in the BJP, the state unit will be coming up with more videos of the bungalow in coming days.
In the video of the bathroom and the gymnasium released on social media platforms including ‘X’, BJP state president Virendra Sachdeva said that the property is equipped with sauna and jacuzzi baths, and is like a seven-star resort.
“It is not a CM residence, it is a ‘museum of corruption’, and through these videos that we have released, we want to focus on the corruption that Arvind Kejriwal has indulged in. His party came to power on the anti-corruption plank and soon started indulging in corruption,” Sachdeva told ThePrint.
He further alleged that the Public Works Department (PWD) has said that it did not sanction the renovation of the property.
“If PWD has said that they have not sanctioned it and paid for it, we just want to know where the money to renovate it came from. The BJP has been highlighting the issue of ‘Sheesh Mahal’ and the video is the proof. This luxury palace of Kejriwal, who calls himself a common man, is the reality. He has built a 7-star resort for himself using public money,” he added.
Giving details about the video, the BJP went on to provide the cost of the gym-sauna room, and jacuzzi. “Marble granite, lighting at Rs. 1.9 crore, installation-civil work, Rs 1.5 crore, gym/spa equipment and fittings, Rs 35 lakh,” the post by Sachdeva on ‘X’ read.
Sachdeva said Kejriwal and other AAP leaders who used to “swear by their children and make false promises of not taking government houses, vehicles and security are looting the income of the tax payers of Delhi”.
The Delhi BJP president further said the money could have been spent on constructing flats for the economically weaker sections of the society, constructing and repairing roads, tackling pollution among others.
At the parliamentary level, the BJP has had a successful run in Delhi, wresting all the seven Lok Sabha seats in 2014, 2019, and 2024. However, the assembly results have been disappointing, with the party currently holding just eight out of the total 70 seats. The AAP won 62 seats in the 2020 elections.
Out of power in Delhi since 1998, the BJP sees the upcoming state elections as a big opportunity to regain the reins of the national capital. Several party leaders also claim that the AAP has lost its “sheen”.
AAP chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar rubbished the allegations of the BJP, saying it was a ploy to divert the public attention.
“Ever since Kejriwal ji started raising the issue of deteriorating law and order situation in Delhi, these people started raising the issue of Kejriwal ji’s house to divert attention from it. Kejriwal ji no longer lives in that house. It has been more than three months since it was vacated,” Kakkar said.
“That is the CM’s house. It is clear from this that BJP does not have any answer on law and order and they want to divert the issue,” she added.
According to the BJP sources, the party’s state unit will be coming up with more videos of the bungalow in the coming few days. “This is just the beginning, and we will be exposing the real face of Kejriwal and AAP everyday. We will be releasing more such videos in the coming days. Every day a new aspect related to the bungalow will be revealed, right from the expensive lights to the way the house has been altered,” said a senior BJP leader.
ThePrint had earlier reported that based on several inputs, the BJP has decided to focus more on the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ allegations pertaining to the alleged use of “extravagant luxurious items” to renovate the official bungalow occupied by Kejriwal in his capacity as the Delhi chief minister.
“We have been saying this for quite some time now that the credibility of Kejriwal as well as AAP is at an all-time low. The Sheesh Mahal scam is our way of showing the reality to the people. Now, the AAP leaders can’t hide behind for want of proof,” he added.
Another senior leader said that the fact that seats of a number of AAP MLAs, including that of former education minister Manish Sisodia, have been changed shows that the party is on a sticky wicket. “The idea behind highlighting the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ issue is to showcase that Kejriwal has indulged in corruption and that the halo around him of an honest man and administrator is nothing but a sham. The issue has emotive value and people are already connecting with it,” said the leader.
The BJP has been raising the issue of ‘Sheesh Mahal’ for quite some time and had even carried out demonstrations seeking his response. It has alleged that about Rs 45 crore was spent on the “renovation” of Kejriwal’s official residence at 6, Flagstaff Road in the Civil Lines area.
Last month, the AAP had dismissed the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ allegations as “politically motivated”.
“The BJP has unleashed countless investigations against AAP leaders, yet not a single rupee of wrongdoing has been proven. These tactics will not deter us,” it had said in a statement, adding that Kejriwal had vacated the residence following his resignation in September.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
