Atishi's Official Residence Vacated, Luggage Thrown Out At Behest Of BJP; AAP Calls It 'Cheap Politics'

In a fresh political row involving the Aam Admi Party (AAP) and the BJP-ruled Centre, the Delhi Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Wednesday alleged that the chief minister's official residence at 6, Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines, which is currently occupied by Chief Minister Atishi, was forcibly vacated at the behest of the BJP as Lt Governor V K Saxena wanted to allot it to a saffron party leader.

On Monday, Atishi shifted to the official residence, days after her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal vacated it. Visuals from outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister are making rounds on social media.

What did CMO say?

According to the official statement, the belongings of Delhi Chief Minister Atishi were also removed from the residence, which was earlier occupied by her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal.

"For the first time in the history of the country, the Chief Minister's residence was vacated. At the behest of the BJP, the Lt Governor forcibly removed Chief Minister Atishi's belongings from the Chief Minister residence," the Chief Minister Office or CMO alleged.

The official statement, as per reports, also highlighted that there was plan to allot the bungalow to some important BJP leader, it claimed. Earlier in the day, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that officers were not allotting the bungalow to CM Atishi and her camp office there was also vacated.

In a press conference on Wednesday, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that in the last few days, the BJP has "spread many rumours" and tried to break the Aam Aadmi Party while adding accusing the BJP of trying to "usurp" the bungalow of Delhi chief minister.

Showing documents on Kejriwal vacating the bungalow, Singh said, "The bungalow was vacated by Kejriwal but it is not being allotted to Atishi and the camp office of the chief minister has also been vacated." Earlier, the BJP, citing a purported PWD letter, alleged that the bungalow's handover after Kejriwal vacated it last week, was not done and it's keys were with him.

Reacting to the development, AAP chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, "The L-G needs to understand that winning an election is the basic requirement for someone to stay at the CM's residence. However, he wants to allot the CM's residence to a BJP leader. It's been 27 years since the BJP came to power in Delhi. They've tried everything to snatch AAP government's powers, and now they want to capture the CM's residence. This is cheap politics."

Commenting on the incident, Delhi assembly LoP Vijender Gupta said, "Finally, Kejriwal's PwD employees had to surrender and accept our demands. Arvind Kejriwal's 'sheesh mahal' has been sealed... The whole fiasco needs to be investigated. The current CM was illegally moved to the bungalow. What is the conspiracy behind this? Why wasn't the bungalow handed over to PwD by following protocols... What is Arvind Kejriwal trying to hide in the Sheesh Mahal?..."

Atishi takes oath as Delhi CM

On September 21, Delhi got its new chief minister as Aam Aadmi Party's firefighter Atishi Marlena Singh took oath as the CM at the Raj Niwas. CM designate Atishi was nominated by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal as his replacement.

Atishi became the 17th female chief minister of the country and only the third of the national capital after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dixit.

Atishi's name for Chief Minister came days after Kejriwal was released from Tihar Jail in the excise-policy linked CBI case. He walked out of prison on September 13 following the Supreme Court's judgment which granted him bail in the case.

Two days later, the AAP chief had announced that he would step down from the CM's post and will return when everyone believes that he is innocent.