New Delhi: The new Chief Minister of Delhi from BJP will not take residence in the ‘Sheesh Mahal,’ the Flagstaff Road bungalow in Civil Lines where Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal lived while he was the CM, sources have revealed, according to an NDTV report.
The BJP had coined the term ‘Sheesh Mahal’ – which means an extravagant house – to point to a “big scam” in the renovation of Kejriwal’s official bungalow.
In a surprising poll outcome, the BJP on Saturday routed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by bagging 48 seats out of the 70. It is set to form the government in the national capital after 27 years. The AAP, which secured 62 seats in the 2020 elections, was reduced to just 22. Congress failed to open its account for the third consecutive time.
The ‘Sheesh Mahal’ controversy
In its poll campaign, BJP highlighted the Sheesh Mahal issue, while pointing out that it has become a monument of AAP’s extravagance, and the “AAP cannot hide this truth no matter how much they try”.
The BJP also pointed to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, which claimed that the cost of remodelling the Chief Minister’s residence soared from an estimated Rs 7 crore to Rs 33.66 crore. In December last year, the BJP also released a video showing lavish interiors inside the bungalow which it said resembled a “7-star resort”.
“You said you will not have a house but built a 7 star resort? Look at the facilities in this palace of the common man. gym, sauna room ….jacuzzi. Marble Granite Lighting of Rs 1.9 crore. Installation of civil works worth Rs 1.5 crore and gym/spa equipment and fittings of Rs 35 lakh,” the party said in the caption of the video of the bungalow.
In response, the AAP dismissed the accusations. Kejriwal said CM’s official residence should be opened for public to see so that the truth comes out. Kejriwal added, “They (BJP) say that the toilets in that house are made of gold. It has a bar, a swimming pool; where is it, after all? We have built swimming pools in Delhi schools, not in my house.”
Discussions on to choose Delhi’s new CM
The BJP is brainstorming to select the new CM. The frontrunners for the CM’s position include Parvesh Verma, a Jat leader who triumphed over former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi seat. Also in the race is North-East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, a noted Purvanchali leader. Shikha Roy, a Thakur who secured a victory in Greater Kailash by defeating AAP’s Saurabh Bharadwaj. Another name doing the rounds is Satish Upadhyay, a Brahmin who defeated Somnath Bharti in the Malviya Nagar constituency.
The BJP has announced that the CM will be declared after Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes back from his US trip.
