BJP Attacks Kejriwal again with “Sheesh Mahal 2” allegations on Corruption, AAP Calls the Pictures “Fake” Downloaded from Internet

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Apr 25: A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffered a major jolt with seven of its 10 members of the Rajya Sabha quitting the party and announcing their decision to join the BJP en masse, the ruling party on Saturday launched yet another scathing attack on its founder-president Arvind Kejriwal renewing its accusation of corruption by dubbing his new home in Delhi as “Sheesh Mahal 2” having renovated an ordinary bungalow into a splendour with “private money.”

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Delhi Public Works Department Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma said Mr Kejriwal has become habituated to living lavishly. “After he was forced out of Sheesh Mahal by Dhurandhar voters of Delhi, he shifted to Punjab, where he grabbed a bungalow, and now he has prepared Sheesh Mahal 2 at Lodhi Estate,” Mr Verma said.

The reference was to the new bungalow allotted to him at Lodhi Estate in New Delhi by the government, alleging spending a fortune to build amenities in it. Mr Kejriwal had walked into the new house only on Friday.

Releasing pictures of the Type VII bungalow allotted by the Centre to Mr Kejriwal as chief of AAP, which is a national party, M Verma said the Central Public Works Department did not spend so much money on bungalows and alleged that “private money” was spent to create superior quality amenities there.

He sought to know from the AAP and Mr Kejriwal how much money was spent on the bungalow and what the source of it was. “Will Kejriwal tell us how much money has been invested in the Lodhi Road bungalow or the new Sheesh Mahal? Where did the money come from, and whose money is it?” he asked.

The AAP quickly reacted to the allegations branding the images to be fake and downloaded from ‘Pinterest.’

The BJP had dubbed his earlier bungalow at 6, Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines, Mr Kejriwal lived as Delhi Chief Minister till September 2024, as “Sheesh Mahal” over alleged financial irregularities involved in its reconstruction and acquisition of lavish interiors and household goods.

Mr Verma claimed that Mr Kejriwal’s new residence at 95, Lodhi Estate, where he has shifted now, has five bedrooms and four drawing rooms. It has amenities superior to any other bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi, including those of the leaders of other parties, such as the Congress and the DMK. Mr Verma, who defeated Kejriwal on the New Delhi seat in the Assembly elections last year, alleged that AAP’s corruption was the reason behind seven of its Rajya Sabha MPs quitting the party on Friday.

The AAP leader Atishi said the photographs released by Verma were fake adding that when the BJP is unable to find anything against Kejriwal, they making false claims based on images from the internet. In an X post in Hindi, the former Chief Minister said, “All the pictures released by Parvesh Verma are fake. They are not pictures of Kejriwal ji’s house.”

“Today, BJP Minister @p_sahibsingh ji called the entire media to show pictures of Arvind Kejriwal ji’s so-called new house… but the funny thing is that these pictures aren’t of Kejriwal ji’s house but downloaded from ‘Pinterest’…Parvesh Verma ji: You could’ve used AI for this instead; theft doesn’t get caught that quickly,” she said.

“To find out whose house is how luxurious, (chief minister) Rekha Gupta ji and Lieutenant Governor sahib should open their own houses, and Kejriwal ji will open his house. The public will decide for itself,” she added.

Raghav Chadha, who walked into the BJP yesterday, too taunted his former party over the latest accusations. Pinning the blame for the AAP’s loss in Delhi on the ‘Sheesh Mahal’, Chadha said it had not been a year since the elections that a “Sheesh Mahal part 2” have surfaced. “I wonder how the few remaining good workers of the Aam Aadmi Party will respond when people in the streets and localities ask them questions about Sheesh Mahal. The AAP should introspect and think about it,” he told reporters.

Another former AAP MP who joined the BJP along with Chadha Swati Maliwal said she joined the BJP, not under any compulsion, but because she believed in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Explaining the host of reasons behind her decision, Maliwal, once a close aide of the AAP chief, said she had been working with Kejriwal and the party since 2006, but he had “me beaten up by a goon in his own house” and was threatened when she raised her voice.

“I have left the AAP and joined the BJP. Since 2006, I have been working with Arvind Kejriwal and supported him during every agitation. However, Arvind Kejriwal had me beaten up by a goon in his own house. I was threatened when I raised my voice against it, and he put immense pressure on me to withdraw the FIR I lodged in this incident,” she said.

Further ramping up the attack on the former Delhi chief minister, Maliwal said she was not given any opportunity by the party to speak in Parliament for 2 years, calling it deeply shameful, and accused Kejriwal of being “anti-women.”

She further alleged that after entering Punjab, the party was remotely controlling the state government and treating it like a personal source of funds. She also claimed that illegal sand mining and drug use have surged in the state, and that FIRs were filed against leaders who speak out against the party, accusing Kejriwal of corruption and strong-arm tactics.

Maliwal praised Narendra Modi as the most popular leader in the world, citing key decisions such as security operations, action against Naxalism, and the introduction of the women’s reservation bill in Parliament. She also highlighted the role of Home Minister Amit Shah in shaping major national policies.

Mr Bhagwant Mann, the Chief Minister of Punjab, the only state under the AAP’s control, trained his guns on Raghav Chadha and other MPs who switched over to the BJP. Not mentioning Chadha by name, Mann said in a post in Punjabi, “Ginger, garlic, cumin, fenugreek powder, red chili, black pepper, and coriander — these 7 things together make the ‘sabzi’ taste great, but on their own, they can’t become a “sabzi.””

The BJP criticised Mann’s remarks as an “insult” to the farmers who grow ginger and garlic. “He does nothing but cracks jokes all day long. While this might entertain the public, it certainly won’t bring about any systemic change,” said Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini.