The AAP government in Delhi spent over Rs 45 crore on Kejriwal's Bungalow

New Delhi, Apr 26: The BJP trained its guns on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the expenditure on rebuilding and renovation of his official Civil Lines residence. The AAP hit back, saying the nearly 80-year-old house was structurally unsafe and had to be rebuilt.

 

 

 

Alleging the Delhi government had spent over Rs 45 crore of taxpayers’ money on the project, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Bidhuri called Kejriwal a “luxurious king” and demanded his resignation. “When Delhi was struggling with Covid, the CM of Delhi was spending crores on getting his house renovated. 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,” alleged the BJP leader.

 

 

 

He was referring to a report by a news channel, Times Now Navbharat, which said the expenditure on work in the CM House was around 45 crore. AAP said the property that was rebuilt did not belong to the CM but was a government-allotted house. “The house was in a dilapidated state, having been built… in 1942. After three serious incidents, which included the ceiling of the CM’s parents’ room falling, the ceiling of CM’s bedroom collapsing, and the office ceiling collapsing, the Public Works Department recommended construction of a new house,” AAP said in a statement. After the incidents, a request was made to the PWD for an assessment, which ordered an audit. The audit report recommended the house be rebuilt. An estimate was prepared and sanction approval was cleared by the finance department, after which a tender was floated. Officials said Rs 30 crore was spent on the CM’s house while the rest was spent on his Camp Office on the premises. The house that Kejriwal occupied in 2015 was spread over an area of almost 1,400 sqm, which included the ground and first floors. After the rebuild, the house has an additional floor and the total area has increased to 1,905 sqm, documents show. According to PWD documents accessed by the media, the first sanction for work in the house was granted on September 1, 2020. This included work on an RCC-framed structure, along with electrical work and an automatic fire alarm system. The second sanction was granted in May 2021 for “providing and fixing a modular kitchen, laundry, pantry, etc”. This was followed by a sanction in October 2021 for “balance civil work for additional areas”. More sanctions were granted in December 2021 and June 2022. As per the break-up provided in PWD documents, apart from civil, electrical, and plumbing work, smart lighting fixtures of different wattage and sizes (2,446 fixtures); energy efficient ceiling fans (80 fans); and a dumbwaiter lift (to deliver food) are part of the cost. Apart from this, the installation of 23 curtains with a fabric curtain track and the motor is also part of the project.

 

Also Read: Congress government in Punjab spent Rs 55 Lakh on Mukhtar Ansari's comfortable stay: CM Mann 

 

AAP said the costs 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 further said in its statement.