A house for Arvind Kejriwal: It began with roof collapses during Covid, a safety audit

“How deceitful these (AAP) people are is exemplified by their Sheesh Mahal,” PM Modi alleged during his address at a rally in Rohini Sunday.

The genesis of the issue lies in instances of “structural collapse” at the CM’s house during the Covid pandemic and the national lockdown in 2020.

Constructed in 1942 and owned by the PWD, the property then had five bedrooms with a separate office space. Kejriwal moved into the house with his wife, children and parents after taking charge as the CM for his second consecutive term in 2015.

While the repair of the bungalow’s roof was being done during Covid, the roof of a toilet also collapsed, necessitating a structural safety audit of the entire house followed by renovation.

According to government records, also cited by the Comptroller and Auditor General — as reported by The Indian Express on Sunday — in March 2020, the then PWD minister Satyendar Jain proposed the remodelling of the residence on the ground floor and the construction of an additional storey, declaring it “most urgent”.

In July 2020, fresh construction was proposed at the property since remodelling of the existing ground floor or creation of an additional floor “could not be done” given that the building was “an old construction having load bearing walls”.

The BJP camp says it was then that it noticed the construction work. “Several of our leaders, who were leading protests near the CM’s residence on issues ranging from lack of arrangements for migrant workers to non-disbursal of funds to the MCDs, noticed the construction taking place,” a BJP insider said.

“We questioned the construction going on in full swing within the perimeters of the property despite a prohibition on such activity in line with the national lockdown,” said a BJP leader, who was among the first to flag it to the party leadership.

On May 8, 2023, based on a complaint by senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, Lt Governor V K Saxena asked then chief secretary Naresh Kumar to conduct an inquiry into the alleged violations and “extravagant and obscure expenditure” at the CM’s bungalow.

“It was former CS (Naresh Kumar) who – during the then standoff between the AAP government and the bureaucracy over the Centre promulgating an ordinance to take over Services in Delhi – underlined the extent of the irregularities in the renovation of the CM house,” said a government official.

In September 2023, the CBI registered a preliminary enquiry in the matter.

In August 2024, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) suspended three engineers for their alleged role in illegalities related to construction at 6, Flag Staff Road. It was called a “witch-hunt” by the AAP.

Last month, acting on a complaint by Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, the Delhi Vigilance Directorate asked the PWD to initiate a probe and submit a report on who or which organisation provided the “lavish items” found at the CM’s bungalow.

Kejriwal vacated the house finally in October 2024. This was days after he stepped down as the CM following his release from Tihar Jail on bail in the excise policy case. After this, the PWD took possession of the house, insisting on making an itemised inventory within it. Atishi, who took over from Kejriwal as CM, did not move into the house.

On December 11, sharpening its attack on Kejriwal on the issue, the BJP released several purported “tour videos” of the house’s interiors along with a rap song titled “Delhi ka millionaire”.

Hitting back, the AAP said the BJP was gunning for Kejriwal to “divert” attention from his bid to highlight the “poor state of law and order situation” in the national capital.

Highlighting the “dilapidated” condition of the old house, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha sought to justify its repair and renovation, pointing out that Kejriwal’s aged parents as well as his young children were among its occupants.

“The people of Delhi do not care about this issue at all. It is just a sorry attempt at targeting Kejriwal by the BJP, which neither has a CM face nor a vision for the city,” an AAP leader alleged.

“The BJP has no option other than vilifying Kejriwal (in its poll campaign). The excise policy allegations against us, which landed almost the entire party leadership including the ex-CM behind bars, have not stuck. So what else can they do?” the leader added.

The party has also said that the house is not Kejriwal’s “personal” asset and, as the CM’s residence, will be allotted to others in the future.

The CAG report detailing the audit of the house’s repair and renovation, whose findings were reported by The Indian Express, shows that from a preliminary estimate of Rs 7.91 crore, the total cost of the work shot up to Rs 33.66 crore by the time it ended in 2022.

The items which contributed to the escalation of cost of renovation of the house, as per the CAG report, include curtains worth Rs 96 lakh, kitchen equipment worth Rs 39 lakh, TV console worth Rs 20.34 lakh, treadmill and gym equipment worth Rs 18.52 lakh, silk carpets worth Rs 16.27 lakh, minibar worth Rs 4.80 lakh, and marble stone for walls worth Rs 66.89 lakh, among other things.