Atishi moves into Delhi CM bungalow, but BJP says house is yet to be allocated

PWD officials said that an agency team, which visited the bungalow to complete the handover process, was not returned the house’s keys on Sunday

Delhi chief minister Atishi on Monday moved into 6, Flag Staff Road, days after her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal shifted out of the Civil Lines bungalow he lived in for nine years.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal moved out of the house on October 4. (PTI)

But controversy engulfed the stricken bungalow as soon as the first vehicles rolled in, with Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) officials suggesting that Atishi was not officially allocated the residence yet, even as it wrote to the CM’s office and said that the keys of the Civil Lines residence were not in its possession.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, said that the chief minister moved in “illegally”, and urged PWD to take custody of the home with police assistance.

A mini-truck rumbled into the bungalow, carrying Atishi’s belongings. The chief minister, who is the AAP’s legislator from Kalkaji, was officially allocated AB-17, Mathura Road when she first became a minister in the Delhi government in March 2023.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said Atishi is in the process of moving in. “PWD has handed over the key of the official CM residence to chief minister Atishi on October 6...The department has followed the due process and protocol while doing so,” the party said in a statement.

Unlike most other states, Delhi has no official chief ministerial residence and previous occupants of the city’s top elected office have lived at different locations. As a result, a housing roulette has shaken up Delhi’s power corridors over the past few days.

Last week, Kejriwal and Sisodia moved to new homes in Lutyens’ Delhi assigned to the AAP’s Rajya Sabha members.

Kejriwal on October 4 moved into 5, Firoz Shah Road, a central government property allotted to AAP MP Ashok Mittal, after he left the Flag Staff Road residence, which has been mired in controversy, following the BJP’s accusations that the former CM spent ₹45 crore renovating it.

Sisodia and his family, who first lived in AB-17 Mathura Road as it was allotted to them and then as guests of Atishi, moved to 32, Rajendra Prasad Road, allotted to another AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Harbhajan Singh.

The day Kejriwal moved out of 6, Flag Staff Road, the chief minister’s office wrote to PWD and asked for the residence to be allotted to Atishi.

A note from Ramchandra Shingra, additional secretary to the chief minister to PWD’s principal secretary on October 4 said: “6, Flag Staff road, Delhi may be kindly allocated as Hon’ble Chief Minister’s residence.”

HT has seen copies of all these letters.

PWD officials said an agency team, which visited the bungalow to complete the handover process, was not returned the keys of the house on Sunday.

“It is brought to your attention that the keys of the house at 6, Flag Staff Road handed over to PWD were taken back after sometime are yet to be handed over to PWD to complete the process of handing over,” PWD said in a letter to Pravesh Ranjan Jha, special secretary in the chief minister’s office.

The letter, which did not specify how the keys were “taken back”, said that vigilance cases concerning constructions at the bungalow were underway, which necessitated an inspection “to take detailed stock of inventories before allotting the house to someone else”.

“It is therefore requested to arrange to hand over the keys of the house to Karam Singh Yadav (concerned officer), PWD without any further delay in order to complete the process of handing over,” the agency said in the letter.

The AAP, in its statement, said that all formalities were completed before Atishi’s move.

“The General Administration Department (GAD) has issued a no-dues certificate indicating that former CM Arvind Kejriwal has paid all water, electricity and telephone bills associated with the residence. When he vacated the CM’s residence, PWD officially issued Kejriwal a ‘Vacation Report’. A look at this report indicates that the concerned PWD junior engineer has done an inspection of the house, checked the inventory and only thereafter issued a vacation report,” it said.

The opposition BJP said Atishi moved into the bungalow to “cover up” corruption during Kejriwal’s time. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said: “We all witnessed the drama of Arvind Kejriwal leaving the bungalow holding his parents’ hands, but Arvind Kejriwal still retains possession of the Sheesh Mahal to this day. Their theatrics were merely an attempt to gain sympathy, showing Mrs Sunita Kejriwal handing over the keys to an official for camera display.”

He added: “What is hidden in the Sheesh Mahal bungalow that Arvind Kejriwal is unwilling to hand its custody to the PWD, even for a day?”

Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta said, “I will write to lieutenant governor VK Saxena, seeking his intervention.”

Jha could not be contacted. Another senior official said he was hospitalised and unreachable.

SK Sharma, a constitutional expert and a former secretary of Delhi assembly, said that Delhi does not have a dedicated CM’s bungalow and that the new CM can move in only after an official allocation. “There is a laid-down procedure to hand over a house, which includes getting ‘no dues’ certificates for water, electricity and appliances, handing over a possession letter and assessment of the house. Once complete, the house once again goes to the general pool. The bungalow is then allocated based on applications, seniority and entitlements,” he said.