Delhi CM official Govt Residence: Renovation, Controversy and Facts

Not just Renovations

A normal Home without an office

CONVERTED into

Permanent official residence of Delhi CM in Rs 44.78 crores
-- Residence
-- Camp Office(New)
-- Security/Staff rooms(New)

-- ~Rs 300 crores residence for Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has moved into his newly constructed official residence in April 2024[1]
-- Rs 467 Crore PM New Residence under construction at Central vista[2]
-- PM’s 7 RCR current residence was ONLY renovated at Rs 89 crore[2:1]

Criticisms[3][2:2]

  • CM’s official Civil Lines residence at 6, Flagstaff road was renovated & new buildings added including CM office using taxpayer money Rs 44.78 crores
  • Doubts CM’s austerity
  • Expensive interior decoration

CM House overview[4][5]

  • Single floor house, built in 1942
  • Central living, dining room and three bedrooms spread around it
  • Occupied by CM Kejriwal since March 2015
  • Previously housed deputy speaker Amrish Singh Gautam
  • Front lobby turned into informal meeting room

Rationale[4:1]

Poor Condition - Leaking Roofs & falling plaster[6][7]

  • Ceiling collapsed at CM Kejriwal’s house after heavy rain in Aug 2020
  • Similar incidents have happened 3 times
    • The roof of Kejriwal's parents' room caved in
    • Same thing happened in CM Kejriwal's room and the room where CM Kejriwal meets people
  • PWD safety Audit recommended the renovation

Hence first order for refurbishings worth Rs 7.09 crore, was issued on September 09, 2020

NOT JUST RENOVATIONS

  • It was not just a small renovation or beautification project
  • New buildings has come up in place of the old/temporary structures
  • Newly built CM official Camp office included in the project

Just Newly built Camp office of the chief minister at his official residence costed Rs 19.22 crore [8]

Home without an office --> Permanent official residence of Delhi CM

  • In 2015, when Kejriwal chose to live there, it was a home without an office
  • For office needs, the ad hoc addition of temporary rooms constructed in the next five years
  • These sufficed till 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed and CM suddenly became the pulsing nerve centre of government
  • Hence need of Proper CM office, kind of mini-secretariat, that can receive information and transmit decisions instantly, as and when the chief minister needs it to do so

Hence the expenditure was necessitated to enable a leader who wishes to deliver service to the poor and improve their lives

Quarters for his personal security staff

  • Even PM's house expanded from 5 Race Course road as his home and 7 Race Course Road as his personal office, to include 3 and 9 Race Course Road as well

It was this same need that had caused the present official prime minister’s residence to expand

Comparison with Congress Delhi CM Shiela Dixit's house[9]

RTI in 2014 had revealed Dikshit's residence on 3-Motilal Nehru Marg had at least

  • 31 air conditioners
  • 15 desert coolers
  • 25 heaters
  • 16 air purifiers
  • 12 geysers among others

Comparison with PM's house expenditure

  • PM’s 7 RCR current residence was ONLY renovated at Rs 89 crore[2:3]

    • 16 acres
    • 4 buildings set in lawns

  • PM New Residence at Central vista at Rs 467 Crore [2:4]

    • 15 acre site[4:2]
    • Living quarters of PM Special Protection Group and PM private office complex[4:3]
    • Prime minister’s house complex will cover 4000 sq m [4:4]
    • 6% of the total built-up area in central vista with a total redeveloped area of 64,500 square metres [4:5]
    • 10 times the cost of CM bunglow[4:6]

Comparison with others

  • Haryana ministers, bureaucrats spent Rs 42.54 crore for ONLY renovationof official houses in 4 years

Chronology of events: Political?

  • 17 April 2023 - CM Arvind Kejriwal narrates the story “chauthi paas raja” in Delhi Vidhansabha [10]
  • 25 April 2023 - First article on Operation SheeshMahal, Times Now Navbharat [11][3:1]
  • 26 April 2023 - BJP protest at CM House [12]

Further reading

  • Where did previous Delhi CMs stay? Read here[13]

References:

  1. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/v-p-moves-new-official-residence-complete-secretariat-conference-facility-pool-9251943/ ↩︎

  2. https://thewire.in/politics/bjp-calls-for-kejriwals-resignation-over-rs-45-crore-house-renovation-aap-says-was-built-in-42 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. https://www.timesnownews.com/videos/times-now/india/operation-sheesh-mahal-kejriwals-rs-45-crore-secret-revealed-nothing-aam-for-khaas-delhi-cm-now-video-99766164 ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. https://thewire.in/politics/narendra-modi-arvind-kejriwal-renovation-desperation ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/6-flagstaff-road-to-be-kejriwals-new-residence/ ↩︎

  6. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/ceiling-collapses-at-kejriwals-house-after-heavy-rain-6543314/ ↩︎

  7. https://www.livemint.com/news/india/delhi-cm-bungalow-s-roof-caved-in-3-times-aap-responses-to-kejriwal-ka-mahal-fuss-11682493417340.html ↩︎

  8. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/vigilance-report-on-arvind-kejriwals-home-renovation-given-to-lt-governor-4067181 ↩︎

  9. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/ac-installed-at-sheila-dikshit-official-residence-cm-199213-2014-07-03 ↩︎

  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1AJWUtB1L8 ↩︎

  11. https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/operation-sheeshmahal-rs-45-crore-spent-on-renovation-of-delhi-cm-arvind-kejriwal-s-official-residence/ar-AA1ajKH2 ↩︎

  12. https://twitter.com/PTI_News/status/1651102725541867520 ↩︎

  13. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/arvind-kejriwal-residence-renovation-row-previous-delhi-cms-bungalow-2365571-2023-04-27 ↩︎