Delhi Chief Minister Atishi
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Setting stage for another confrontation with Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, Delhi Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Wednesday said Chief Minister Atishi was forcibly evicted from the official residence at 6, Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines at the behest of the BJP so as to allot the bungalow to a senior leader of the saffron party.
The CMO statement said such an incident was happening for the first time in the country's history while alleging that the BJP, which is in exile from power in Delhi for the past 27 years is "now trying to illegally occupy" the Chief Minister's residence.
Earlier in the day, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that officers were not allotting the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow to Atishi due to BJP's pressure and in "defiance" of protocol. Countering this, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Vijender Gupta alleged that the Chief Minister was "illegally" occupying the bungalow and demanded it to be sealed.
The CMO statement said the PWD handed over the keys of the official residence to Atishi on October 6 and the new chief minister was in the process of moving in. The General Administration Department (GAD) had issued a no-dues certificate to former Chief Arvind Kejriwal while the PWD officially issued a ‘Vacation Report’ to him, it said.
"A look at this report clearly indicates that the concerned Junior Engineer of PWD has done an inspection of the house, checked the inventory and only thereafter issued a vacation report. It is only after this that the keys of the Chief Minister's Residence were handed over by the PWD to the current Chief Minister Atishi," it said.
The BJP had alleged that Kejriwal had taken back the keys after vacating the bungalow, whose controversial refurbishment had made headlines. The AAP had denied these allegations.
Delhi BJP president Virender Sachdeva welcomed the "sealing" of the Chief Minister's residence. "The hurried efforts by the AAP to allow the Chief Minister to occupy the bungalow without adhering to government rules clearly indicate that there is something that Kejriwal wants to hide not only from the people of Delhi but also from the law and the PWD," he alleged.
AAP leader Singh alleged that the BJP was trying to "usurp" the bungalow. As the BJP has been unable to win assembly polls in Delhi, he claimed, it is now trying to "usurp" the bungalow of Delhi chief minister.
Rebutting BJP's allegations that the bungalow was not handed over to the PWD, Singh claimed that the former chief minister has properly vacated the premises citing documents. Singh alleged that the BJP was spreading "lies" on the issue despite documentary proof of Kejriwal vacating the bungalow.
"Chief Minister Atishi held a meeting at the camp office at the bungalow but later on the staff there were removed. In defiance of protocol, the officers have not allotted the official chief minister residence to Atishi under BJP's pressure," Singh claimed in a statement.
The BJP is spreading "lies" and creating confusion in Delhi as its tactics to undermine the AAP and break the party have failed, Singh added.