Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who has time and again diligently portrayed himself to be adoring a common man’s lifestyle, has spent Rs 45 crores to renovate his official bungalow located at Civil Lines in New Delhi. He is said to have used this huge amount of money to make a few changes to his already existing bungalow during the Covid pandemic when the citizens of Delhi were facing a severe shortage of life-saving facilities at the hospitals.
According to a report by Times Now, the taxpayer’s money that Kejriwal used for renovation and not really ‘construction’ of the Chief Minister’s residence, could have been better utilized for the benefit of Delhites during Covid. Notably, Rs 45 crores could have been utilized to build 224 Mohalla clinics. Considering how badly Delhi struggled during the pandemic, the amount could have been utilized to purchase 12,459 oxygen concentrators. As many as 2,25,000 PPE kits and 2,710 ventilators could have been purchased during the Covid. But, Kejriwal seemingly had to ‘renovate’ his house on priority.
#OperationSheeshMahal
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) April 25, 2023
Had Delhi CM not spent Rs 45 crore on the renovation of his residence, here it could have been used-
– 224 Mohalla clinics could have been made
– 180 classrooms could be made
– 2,25,000 PPE kits could have been bought@PadmajaJoshi shares more details. pic.twitter.com/DXNQloHutm
How he spent Rs 45 crores
The said property has been approximately renovated for Rs 44.78 crores out of which more than Rs 1 crore was sanctioned to buy only the curtains. Kejriwal is said to have selected a curtain design costing Rs 7,94,000 per piece for his residence and had ordered 23 such curtain pieces. He also ordered ‘Deor Pearl Marble’, known for its superior quality for Rs 3.30 crores. The said amount was used to buy the marble and polish it. Additionally, Rs 21,60,000 was spent on the chemical adhesive used to fix the marble.
Further, the Chief Minister ordered 6 hand-crafted wool carpets for a total of Rs 20 lakhs. Rs 63 lakhs were spent on renovating two kitchens and Rs 4 crores were spent on wall paneling. Also, another Rs 40 lakhs were spent on redoing the wardrobes and dressers in his room, his parents, and also the bedrooms of his two children.
As per a report in Indian Express, the first sanction by PWD for the renovation work was on September 1 2020, for RCC framing works and alarm systems. The second sanction was on May 2021 for fixing modular kitchens, laundry and pantry etc.
Last year he used taxpayers money to construct a swimming pool
It is worth noting that last year, the Delhi CM had also used Rs 21 crores of taxpayer’s money to construct a swimming pool inside his residence. It was also said that Kejriwal had got the pool modelled as per the standards of luxury Maldives hotels.
यह केजरीवाल के सरकारी बंगले में Taxpayers के 21 करोड़ से बने Swimming Pool है!
— Rajiv Babbar (@RajivBabbarbjp) October 29, 2022
AAP नेता बता रहे हैं कि केजरीवाल ने Maldives जैसी सारी सुविधाएं इसमें इसमें करवाई हैं।
लेकिन वहीं छठ पूजा के लिए घाट तक नहीं बनवा रहा है बेशर्म केजरीवाल! @BJP4Delhi pic.twitter.com/blrq0VHUOc
Moreover, in 2014, Arvind Kejriwal stated that he and his AAP ministers would not occupy the government-provided bungalows and instead opt for smaller government flats. Aam Aadmi Party has long fashioned itself as the common man’s party, publicly championing the cause of austerity and attacking its political opponents over their purported extravagance.
Kejriwal wears basic shirts and keeps a cheap Reynolds pen in his pocket. The pictures of them are often used by AAP leaders to claim how simple and humble their CM is.
When Delhiites were Dying From Covid, Kejriwal was wasting ₹45 crores on his Bungalow Renovation.
— BALA (@erbmjha) April 25, 2023
Vultures! #KejriwalKaMahal pic.twitter.com/DCJB6zKvNs
Ten years on, the lofty promises and claims made by them appear nothing but political grandstanding as the latest Times Now report now reveals, raising questions about the party’s professed commitment to economic prudence and frugality on being elected to power.
BJP demands resignation
The BJP took cognizance of the renovation and stated that when Delhi was struggling with Covid, CM of Delhi was spending crores on getting his house renovated. Calling Kejriwal a ‘luxurious king’ and demanding his resignation, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Bidhuri added, “In 2013, he used to say he will neither take a house, security or official vehicle. But he ended up spending Rs 45 crore on the renovation of his house.”
The AAP responded to this and said that the property that was renovated did not belong to the CM but was a government-allotted house. It also said that the cost had to be seen in the context of the amount spent by other governments on similar projects. “The estimate for the new Prime Minister’s sprawling house alone is Rs 467 crore, while the actual cost of the Central Vista project is estimated to be Rs 20,000 crore. Further, the renovation cost of the PM’s 7 RCR residence was three times the estimate. Just renovation was carried out at a whopping Rs 89 crore against an estimated cost of Rs 27 crore,” the party said in its statement.
It also further said that the BJP was raising this issue to divert the public attention from the real issues. “They don’t wish to respond to serious allegations made by former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik who has attributed the Pulwama attack to lapses of the Modi government,” the party said.
However, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that while several other projects amid the pandemic were postponed, the renovation work of the CM’s house continued. “Kejriwal should own moral responsibility and resign,” he said.
