House hunting ends: Arvind Kejriwal zeroes on house in north Delhi

New Delhi:  Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has zeroed in on a house in Civil Lines area of north Delhi and is expected to move out of his official Tilak Lane residence by early next month.

"I have finally decided upon a house offered by Naren Jain in Civil Lines area. Thanks Narenji," Mr Kejriwal tweeted.

Jain is the son of former Congress MP from Chandni Chowk Bhiku Ram Jain, and describes himself as a businessman, who rents out properties in Delhi.

When contacted, Jain initially refused that the house was being given to Mr Kejriwal on rent. However, hours later he admitted that the house was indeed being given to the Aam Aadmi Party chief.

"I had asked my broker to rent out the house. So when he decided to give the property on rent to Mr Kejriwal, I had no idea that it was being given to him," he said.

The house has four bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a hall. It also has a barsaati, basement and small gardens in front and rear of the house.

The house once belonged to Salman Rushdie's father, but it was sold out in 1960s. The property was bought by Jain in 2005 and has been lying vacant since then.

There were reports that the house may be given on rent of Re 1 per month, but Jain has denied this.

"The rent has not been decided yet. It will be mutually decided and would be given at a concessional rate and the agreement process should be over by next month. The house may fetch a rent of Rs. 50,000-60,000 per month," Jain said.

Mr Kejriwal moving out of the government accommodation, which he received as the Delhi Chief Minister, assumes significance as the issue of him staying in the house even after quitting had been raised by opposition parties.

"We thank Naren Jain for offering his house to Arvind Kejriwal. He will shift in this house in Civil Lines area of Delhi after repair and renovation work. The rent of the house will be decided mutually.

"The government accommodation allotted to him will be vacated soon. We take this opportunity to thank all those people who offered their houses to Mr Kejriwal," a statement from the former Delhi Chief Minister's office said.

Jain said that it would take around 15 days to repair the house as it was lying vacant for the past nine years and a lot of work has to be done.

In a meeting last month, AAP volunteers had asked Mr Kejriwal about the reason behind his stay in the government accommodation at Tilak Lane.

To this Mr Kejriwal had responded that he was waiting for his daughter's XII and IIT entrance exams to get over. He added that he was paying rent for his stay.

The AAP chief had faced some problems in finding a house for his family. AAP sources said that he had almost finalised a house in Patparganj in East Delhi, but the deal did not materialise.