New Delhi: In the latest clash between the elected government and the bureaucracy in the national capital, public works department (PWD) officials on Wednesday sealed the “official residence” of chief minister Atishi. The chief minister’s office (CMO) claimed that 6, Flagstaff Road, Civil Lines, was forcibly vacated and her belongings were removed.
“For the first time in the history of the country, the chief minister has been asked to vacate her house. The L-G has forcibly removed the CM’s belongings at the behest of the BJP. Preparations are underway on behalf of the L-G to allot the CM’s residence to a big BJP leader. The BJP, which has been in exile in Delhi for 27 years, now wants to capture the CM’s residence,” claimed the CMO in a statement. Interestingly, Ms Atishi also holds the PWD portfolio.
Sources at the L-G office, however, claimed that the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow is not the official residence of the chief minister and that it has not been allotted to Ms Atishi so far. “She herself kept her belongings in that house without allotment and then removed them herself. The bungalow will immediately be allotted to her after preparing the proper inventory,” sources added.
“The owner of the house, like all other chief ministers' residences, is the PWD. The PWD takes possession of the house after it is vacant, prepares its inventory and then duly allots it. Former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has not given possession of the house to the PWD. This house has not been allotted to Ms Atishi yet. Her allotted residence is still 17 AB Mathura Road. How did two houses get allotted?” the sources clarified.
Ms Atishi moved with her belongings to the bungalow in North Delhi's Civil Lines area on Monday. It was occupied for over nine years by her predecessor, Mr Kejriwal, who vacated it after resigning as chief minister.
After the PWD sealed the bungalow, a pick-up van carrying cardboard cartons was seen coming out of the bungalow. A hand cart carrying an almirah and a carton was also seen moving out of the bungalow.
Meanwhile, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, in a post on X, alleged that the L-G is "planting" in the media that Ms Atishi's belongings were removed because she did not give its keys and that the bungalow will be allotted to her after an inventory of items is prepared.
In another post, Mr Bharadwaj questioned the L-G if the keys of Raj Niwas were handed over by his predecessor to the PWD and if any inventory was prepared when he shifted there.
Welcoming the PWD's move to seal the bungalow, Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta alleged that the bungalow was "illegally occupied" and demanded a thorough probe into it. "Sealing of the bungalow by the PWD was inevitable," he said in a statement.
The BJP has been accusing Ms Atishi of "illegally" occupying bungalow number 6 on Flagstaff Road and has been demanding that it be sealed.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the move is in line with public aspirations, and the department should conduct a video survey of this building and present the report to the people of Delhi.
“The hurried efforts by the AAP to allow the current chief minister to occupy the Sheesh Mahal (CM bungalow) without adhering to government allotment rules clearly indicate that there is something inside Sheesh Mahal that former chief minister wants to hide not only from the people of Delhi but also from the law and the public works department,” he said.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav also said that the hurried manner in which Ms Atishi moved into the official residence immediately after Mr Kejriwal vacated shows that there was much to hide in the bungalow.
“The hush-hush manner in which Ms Atishi moved into the CM residence, though she will be at the helm only for four months, was to cover up Mr Kejriwal’s corruption as he gave shape to the now scrapped liquor policy from this bungalow when Delhiites were fighting to protect their lives from the Covid-19 pandemic,” the DPCC chief said.
