Bungalow battle turns ugly in run-up to polls
AAP and BJP clashed over alleged overspending on Kejriwal's former bungalow, with protests escalating ahead of Delhi assembly elections.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took out protests and counterprotests as the shrill battle over alleged overspending on the 6 Flag Staff Road bungalow where Arvind Kejriwal lived as chief minister played out on the streets of the national capital a day after elections for the state assembly were announced.
The AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj on Wednesday morning attempted to enter the bungalow, which the state Public Works Department (PWD) reclaimed on Monday, three months after allotting it to chief minister Atishi, on the grounds that she had still not taken physical possession.
The bungalow was, however, cordoned off by banks of police personnel and metal barricades, with the fortifications forcing the group to instead hold a 10-minute sit-in protest outside the house. They then went towards the Prime Minister’s official residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, demanding that it be thrown open to the public “to reveal the true cost of its construction”.
“We wanted to contest the elections on issues related to water, and electricity. But the BJP wants people to vote on the basis of ‘aawas-niwas’,” Bhardwaj said.
“The BJP is spreading lies across the country that a golden toilet, swimming pools and minibar are present in the Delhi CM’s house. We will also go to check the Prime Minister’s Raj Mahal,” said Singh.
The BJP, in the mean time, marched to AB 17, Mathura Road, a bungalow allocated to Atishi since her time as a minister in the state cabinet, in a bid to counter the chief minister’s claims a day ago that the central government “evicted” her from Flag Staff Road and left her “homeless”.
“6 Flag Staff Road is not a designated Delhi CM resident, unlike the Prime Minister’s house. How many bungalows does she need?” said Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva at the protest site outside the Mathura Road house.
The Civil Lines bungalow has become the epicentre of electoral discourse in the national capital in the run-up to the February 5 polls.
The BJP has, for months now, accused Kejriwal and the AAP of spending lavishly to renovate the bungalow, which it has labelled “Sheesh Mahal” (shimmering palace). It has said Kejriwal spent upwards of ₹80 crore on the house, with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), directorate of vigilance and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) probing the alleged violations.
The AAP has rejected these claims and, in recent days, sought to turn the focus on the Prime Minister’s residence, alleging that the BJP spent ₹2,700 crore on it.
Wednesday’s drama unfolded at 10am when Singh and Bharadwaj said at a press conference that they would go and look for the “sprawling swimming pools”, “gold plated toilets” and “mini bar” that the BJP claimed Kejriwal had equipped the Flag Staff Road bungalow with.
At around 11.15am, Singh and Bhardwaj reached the bungalow, where they were greeted by thick security.
“Police and PWD are saying there is an order from the top to not allow anyone inside the residence. I told them I am the minister... if there is an order from the top there is an order from LG,” Bharadwal said after not being let in.
He and Singh then sat on the road near the barricades in protest for 10 minutes. “They have deployed such heavy police personnel and water cannons for two people. Are we terrorists?” Singh asked.
BJP leaders hit out at the AAP, saying it “forcibly tried to enter” the bungalow.
The party’s national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “What AAP leaders did today was a glaring example of their irresponsible, insane and anarchic behaviour. They tried to enter the house forcibly.”
Singh and Bhardwaj left the site 11.25am and arrived near Lok Kalyan Marg at 12.53pm.
Police did not allow the AAP leaders to proceed beyond the Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station, around 350m away from the Prime Minister’s residence. Lok Kalyan Marg is one of the most heavily policed and secure streets in the national capital, with access severely limited.
The commotion ended around 1.20pm, with both AAP leaders announcing that “their stand was vindicated and BJP was hiding things in both the bungalows.”
Around the same time, Delhi BJP chief Sachdeva reached AB 17, Mathura Road.
“We came here to meet chief minister Atishi and she is not here, so we will ask her four questions: Whom is 17 AB Mathura Road bungalow allotted to? Is it not true that this bungalow is allotted to her? If former chief minister Sheila Dikshit ran the government from Mathura Road from 1998 to 2004, then why can’t Atishi do so?” he asked.
To be sure, people aware of the matter said that while Atishi had taken possession of the Mathura Road house in March 2023, she currently lives in a private residence in Kalkaji, the constituency she represents in the Delhi assembly and from which she is contesting the elections.
The BJP’s candidate from New Delhi assembly constituency, Parvesh Sahib Singh said, “Sheesh Mahal was constructed at the peak of Covid-19, even when Arvind Kejriwal claimed that he would never take a bungalow.”
The party’s New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj said “When Delhi was struggling with crisis, AAP was arranging facilities in “Sheesh Mahal”. In difficult times, instead of service, excuses were made, instead of relief, pomp and show increased.”
In the afternoon, Kejriwal tweeted: “I have heard that there is a throne in the ‘Rajmahal’ whose price is more than ₹150 crores.”
Former West Delhi MP Verma said “If a person tries to equate themselves with the Prime Minister, it is their biggest mistake. Prime Minister Narendra Modi lives in the same residence where former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lived... All former Delhi chief ministers lived in ordinary residences allotted to them, but Arvind Kejriwal had one specially built for him.”
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