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PWD takes inventory of Delh CM’s bungalow; AAP cries foul
The BJP retaliated against the AAP, saying that Atishi is making a ‘futile attempt to play the victim card’
Officials of the Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) on Thursday inventoried items at 6, Flag Staff Road – a bungalow that is the latest flashpoint of the imbroglio between the Aam Aadmi Party government on one side and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and lieutenant governor on the other – even as Delhi chief minister Atishi alleged that the BJP is trying to “occupy the CM’s residence by force” because it has been unable to win Delhi assembly elections for the past 27 years.
The BJP retaliated against the AAP, saying that Atishi is making a “futile attempt to play the victim card”.
Early on Thursday, four senior PWD officials along with other support staff, visited the house and started making an inventory, after which they submitted a report to their seniors, officials familiar with Thursday’s developments said.
A separate PWD official said that four PWD officials including two electrical engineers, one executive engineer, and one junior engineer with staff visited the CM residence in the afternoon for inventorisation during which they made the list of all the goods in the house such as air conditioners, furniture, electronic items, and others by visiting all areas of the CM bungalow complex.
Read more: Delhi chief minister Atishi's belongings ‘forcibly’ removed from residence: CMO
The official did not share the details of the inventory that was found at the former CM’s residence. It was not known if they also video-recorded the inventorisation process or not.
The inventory report was submitted to deputy secretary housing allotment section of the PWD.
The officials cited above, however, did not share the list of the items at the Flag Staff Road bungalow.
“The Delhi CM office has requested that the bungalow where Arvind Kejriwal lived from 2015 to 2024 (weeks after resignation) be allotted to incumbent CM Atishi… The inventorisation of the bungalow was done by local PWD officials on Thursday and the report was submitted to the PWD officials concerned. A decision on the allotment of the bungalow is likely to be taken on Friday,” said another senior PWD official, asking not to be identified.
Meanwhile, Atishi continued the AAP’s offensive against the BJP over the issue.
“The BJP is rattled because it cannot defeat AAP in the elections… They have put our ministers and leaders in jail as part of its conspiracy but still failed to break our party and government. Now that all tactics have failed, they want to occupy the CM’s residence,” she said during a press conference on Thursday evening. “AAP leaders have not entered politics for bungalows or cars. We have come to work for the people. If needed, we will work for the people sitting on the road. The BJP can take all the bungalows; we live in the hearts of the people of Delhi,” she added.
On Wednesday, the controversy over 6, Flag Staff Road escalated as PWD locked the bungalow that Atishi had moved into days ago, prompting the AAP to allege that she was “forcibly” evicted and her “belongings removed”. The bizarre political showdown snowballed into a larger controversy as the AAP alleged that the bungalow was “sealed at the behest of LG VK Saxena and the BJP”.
The LG office said that it was locked for inventorisation, and it would be formally allotted to the incumbent CM once the formal process was complete. The AAP, however, contended that the inventorisation was not part of any red procedure. The BJP, on its part, has asked that PWD conduct a “complete investigation” of the bungalow, which has been mired in controversy after the party accused former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of spending ₹45 crore in renovating it.
To be sure, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in September 2023 registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) into alleged irregularities in the renovation of the bungalow. The PE was registered on the basis of a report the then Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar submitted flagging irregularities in the construction at the CM’s house. Later files related to the matter were taken by the CBI from PWD.
The AAP has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Working surrounded by boxes
On Thursday afternoon, the AAP shared pictures and a video of CM Atishi working while surrounded by cardboard cartons lying around her sofa at her personal house in south Delhi.
“This is what it means to work for the people. During Navratras, Delhi’s woman CM was thrown out of the CM residence on the orders of the LG. So, CM Atishi started working for the people of Delhi from her private residence itself. No one can stop us from serving the people of Delhi,” the AAP said in a post on X.
A PWD official said the AB-17 Mathura Road bungalow is currently allotted to Atishi, and she is in the possession of the bungalow.
The BJP hit out at the ruling party in the city-state.
“Atishi has become skilled in staging dramas under the guidance of her leader, Kejriwal, and is now making a futile attempt to play the victim card by sharing such photos to gain public sympathy, just like Kejriwal,” the leader of the Opposition in Delhi assembly, Vijender Gupta, said.
The drama began on Monday, when Atishi moved into the bungalow, days after Kejriwal vacated it. PWD officials suggested she was not officially allocated the residence and claimed its keys were not in its possession.
Gupta said he visited AB-17 bungalow on Mathura Road, which is allotted to Atishi, and found that “four luxury cars were parked (there), and her staff was also working”.
“It is the same bungalow from where former CM Sheila Dikshit functioned for 10 years, and later, AAP’s Manish Sisodia also ran the government for almost eight years as deputy CM,” Gupta said in a statement, adding that despite having a big residence and office, Atishi was trying to mislead people. “Why does she not want to work from her official residence and office? The reason is clear: she wants to do ‘drama’ and not ‘work,’ so that her ‘victim card’ game can mislead the public,” he said.
War of words
The 6, Flag Staff Road bungalow belongs to the Delhi government’s PWD. 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. Arvind Kejriwal was the first CM to stay at 6, Flag Staff Road.
At a press conference at Delhi secretariat, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said when Sisodia and Satyendar Jain resigned in 2023, their houses were allotted to Atishi and him without any inventorisation. “But during that time there was no problem. PWD never did any inventorisation by removing the belongings of Manish Sisodia or Satyendar Jain. But the low level of politics that LG Vinay Saxena is doing now is very cheap and in very bad taste. The PWD department is with CM Atishi but despite this, the officials of the same PWD locked and sealed the CM’s residence because the LG is making the officials dance like puppets,” said Bharadwaj.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, “The LG has insulted the mandate of the people of Delhi by forcefully evicting a female CM from her official residence… The BJP and LG are colluding to illegally squat on the CM House now,” said Singh.
The Delhi government did not respond to requests for comment.
No response was available from the LG office despite HT reaching out for a response .
