NEW DELHI: Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta on Saturday targeted Arvind Kejriwal over alleged plans of carrying out a Rs 200 crore renovation of chief minister’s official residence at 6, Flag Staff Road.
Addressing the press conference here on Saturday, Gupta challenged Kejriwal to address the public and reveal the “dark truth” of the residence, which it has dubbed as ‘Sheesh Mahal’.
Gupta questioned the necessity of a planned illegal construction worth Rs 200 crore. He claimed that eight Type-V flats at 45 and 47 Rajpur Road, along with two bungalows (8-A and 8-B), were demolished and merged to create a grand residence over an extensive 10-acre plot (approximately 50,000 square yards). These demolished properties reportedly included housing for senior administrative officers.
He accused Kejriwal of failing to secure approval from any competent authority to merge the properties into the CM’s residence and further said that these demolished properties officially remain listed as separate entities in government records despite being absorbed into the CM’s residence.
According to him, this happened during a time when the country was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. He claimed that Kejriwal pursued a new liquor policy to favour liquor cartels in return for acquiring expensive items for the CM’s residence.
The LoP stated that these acquisitions occurred in 2022 and were revealed by comparing the PWD inventory lists from 2022 and 2024 after the residence was vacated. The findings indicated significant discrepancies, revealing that the items in 2024 were nearly eight times the value of those initially listed in 2022.
He questioned the origins of these items, suggesting that if the PWD did not provide them, they might have been gifted by liquor cartels in exchange for undue benefits under the new liquor policy. He alleged that the policy increased the liquor sales commission from 5% to 12%, with a substantial portion allegedly funding luxurious furnishing for the Sheesh Mahal.
AAP’s response
The AAP party said the BJP’s entire campaign has been to attack Arvind Kejriwal. They don’t have any vision or plan for Delhi, and all of their allegations and cases have eventually always been proven false, the party added.