Citing purported documents from the Public Works Department (PWD), the Delhi BJP on Tuesday called for the resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the amount spent on renovating 6, Flagstaff Road, Civil Lines, his official residence. While the BJP said the documents show approximately ₹45 crore was spent, including ₹11.30 crore on “plush interior decoration” and ₹1 crore just on curtains, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the PWD had recommended the construction of a new house and it was not the CM’s personal property. It added that the amount spent was ₹30 crore.
Alleging that the first work order was issued in 2020 during the COVID-19 period,Leader of the Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri called for Mr. Kejriwal’s resignation and prosecution for “misusing public money”. He also demanded that the amount be recovered from the CM. Later in the evening, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said the matter raised questions about his right to remain in his position as a public servant.
Both parties attacked the CM for spending such an amount despite entering politics with claims of simplicity, with Mr. Maken saying the AAP leader had distributed copies of a sworn affidavit in his Assembly constituency dated June 7, 2013, in which he swore to live in an ordinary house. “Arvind Kejriwal has shown that he is not a common man but the most special man of Delhi,” said Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana.
‘Dilapidated condition’
In a statement, AAP said the house, built in 1942, was in a dilapidated condition. “After three serious incidents, which included the ceiling of the CM’s parents’ room falling, the ceiling of the CM’s bedroom collapsing, and the office ceiling collapsing, the Public Works Department recommended the construction of a new house,” the party said.
AAP also sought to compare the construction cost with that of other government houses. “The estimate for the Prime Minister’s sprawling new house across 36,268 sq. ft. alone is ₹467 crore, while the actual cost of the Central Vista project is estimated to be ₹20,000 crore,” the statement added.