Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 6: The Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Monday hit back at BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri over his “changed her father” remark, and expressed dismay that the country’s politics has stooped down to so low level.
Ms Atishi broke down at the media conference while reacting to Mr Bidhuri’s controversial comment and regretted that he has now come down to abusing an old man who was a teacher for his lifetime.
“I want to tell Ramesh Bidhuri, my father was a teacher throughout his life, he has taught thousands of children coming from poor and lower-middle-class families, now he is 80 years old…now he is really ill that he can’t even walk without help. Will you (Ramesh Bidhuri) do such a dirty thing for the sake of election? He has come down to the situation where he is abusing an old man. I never thought that this country’s politics could stoop so low. I cannot believe it. He is asking for votes by abusing my old father,” Atishi said haltingly during the press meet apparently struggling to control her tears.
Ramesh Bidhuri, the BJP candidate contesting against her for the Kalkaji seat for the approaching Delhi election, had targeted Atishi over her surname during a rally in the capital on Sunday. After making some sexist remarks against the Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mr Bidhuri slurred on Ms Atishi.
“This Marlena (Atishi) became Singh. She changed her name. Marlena changed her father. She used to be Marlena, now she is Singh. Her parents had filed a petition seeking clemency for Afzal Guru, the man responsible for killing young people. Arvind Kejriwal swore on his children not to align with the corrupt Congress. This reflects the character of the Aam Aadmi Party,” Bidhuri had said.
The comments drew sharp criticism from AAP. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said BJP leaders had “crossed all limits of shamelessness.” “BJP leaders are using filthy language against Delhi’s Chief Minister Atishi. The people of Delhi will not tolerate the insult of a female Chief Minister. All the women of Delhi will take revenge for this,” the former Delhi chief minister wrote in a post on X.
AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, “If he can use derogatory language for a female Chief Minister, just imagine how he would treat an ordinary woman if, by mistake, Ramesh Bidhuri becomes an MLA. The BJP is insulting women because they will blindly support their son and brother (Arvind Kejriwal). Ramesh Bidhuri will be badly defeated by this female Chief Minister.”
Mr Bidhuri had raked up another controversy with his remarks on Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi. “I will make a road as smooth as Priyanka Gandhi’s cheek,” he had said. “We will build all roads in Kalkaji like the cheeks of Priyanka Gandhi. Lalu had said that he would build roads in Bihar like the cheeks of Hema Malini, he had lied. He could not. But I assure you that we will make all roads in Kalkaji like the cheeks of Priyanka Gandhi,” he had said.
He took back his words after facing severe criticism from the AAP and Congress, which threatened to file an FIR against him. “If my words have hurt the motherly power, sisters, or anyone else, I apologise. We respect women. But I also say that Congress and AAP should first look at their deteriorating political situation.”
The BJP, meanwhile, has kept harping on her predecessor Mr Kejriwal having built “Sheesh Mahal” to serve as his official residence and also lashed on the former chief minister an “advertisement Baba.” The party said a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had put the total cost of renovating the alleged ‘Sheesh Mahal,’ was ₹33.66 crore.
Addressing a press conference, BJP MP Sambit Patra said, “Arvind Kejriwal should be called ‘Advertisement Baba’ from today onwards…The government of Delhi spent a total of ₹54 crore for the scheme ‘Business Blasters.’ However, the advertisement of the scheme cost ₹80 crore.
“The CAG mentioned that the expenditure for the advertisement of the scheme was 1.5 times the expenditure of the scheme…In another scheme, ₹1.9 crore were invested. However, the expenditure of the advertisement was ₹27.9 crore,” Mr Patra said.
The BJP MP again targeted Mr Kejriwal over renovation at the CM’s residence.
“As per the CAG report, on 17th March 2020, the PWD of Delhi gave a proposal that Arvind Kejriwal’s residence had to be remodelled. PWD proposed to demolish the building and add one storey. Surprisingly, in just one day, the proposal of the PWD was accepted,” Patra said.
“A report by Comptroller and Auditor General Girish Chandra Murmu, revealed that the total cost of renovating the Delhi Chief Minister’s residence, referred to as the ‘Sheesh Mahal,’ was ₹33.66 crore.
“The remodelling was estimated at ₹7.61 crore. But the tender came out for ₹8.62 crore which means the tender cost was higher by 13.21%…This work was completed in 2022 at a cost of ₹33.66 crore. That is, the cost was 342.31% more than the estimated amount. Such a big scam was committed for Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘Sheesh Mahal’…The CAG raised questions on the tendering process,” Mr Patra added.
The ‘Sheesh Mahal’ controversy centres around allegations that Arvind Kejriwal spent crores of rupees renovating his official residence during the Covid-19 pandemic, a period when many public development projects were stalled.
