Apostate Gahlot takes center stage in BJP protest against Sheesh Mahal in Delhi | Latest News Delhi

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and minister Kailash Gahlot, protested against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal near his house on Firoz Shah Road on Thursday, alleging that “extravagant Items” and “luxurious furnishings” such as gold-plated toilets were used in his former residence at No. 6 Flag Staff Road.

BJP leaders referred to the bungalow at Civil Lines as ‘Sheesh Mahal’ and questioned the origin of the furniture added during a 2022 renovation of the bungalow and demanded an inquiry be conducted.

The AAP, meanwhile, called the protest “theatrics and drama” which it said was “due to the BJP’s fear of electoral defeat”.

On Thursday around 11 a.m, Hundreds of BJP workers, led by the party’s Delhi chief Virendra Sachdeva and MP and Leader of Opposition Vijendra Gupta, marched towards Kejriwal’s current residence but were stopped by police near Ashoka Road. BJP workers carried cut-out caricatures of Kejriwal with a gold-plated toilet and placards demanding “Accountability for Sheesh Mahal”.

Gahlot, who joined the BJP just four days ago, stressed that the bungalow issue was among the issues he had highlighted in his resignation letter to the AAP chief.

“It is an issue that anyone who subscribes to the AAP’s ideology will find troubling. “The kind of money spent on this shows the common man that the values ​​and principles of the AAP have been compromised,” Gahlot added.

Police had put up two rows of barricades at the Firoz Shah Road residence allotted to AAP MP Ashok Mittal, where Kejriwal has been staying since October. The BJP said party workers and Sachdeva were arrested by police and taken to Parliament Street police station where they were later released.

The Flag Staff Road bungalow was at the center of a controversy in 2023 over the cost of its renovation. The BJP alleged that the Delhi government was spending money ₹45 crore for renovation of the house. Kejriwal resigned as Delhi chief minister on October 4 and vacated Bungalow 6, Flagstaff Road.

“The Sheesh Mahal bungalow is a result of embezzlement of millions of rupees from the public’s hard-earned money and is a symbol of corruption. We’ve never heard of anything as extravagant as a gold toilet seat… The gold toilet seat, the gold sink, the silver dinner service, carpets worth ₹Curtains worth ₹50 lakh ₹8 lakh, expensive stones and even Bose speakers in all rooms and bathrooms were installed by Kejriwal,” Sachdeva claimed.

The AAP responded in a statement: “The BJP’s theatrics and drama are due to its fear of losing the Delhi elections. Their real intention is to abolish the free electricity system for Delhiites and hand over the power plants to Adani, who will then charge consumers four times the tariff, just like in the BJP-ruled states.”

It added: “The BJP has used several tactics to denigrate the image of the staunchly honest Arvind Kejriwal. Even fabricated cases against him but till date not a single rupee of wrongdoing against AAP or any of its leaders has been uncovered by any authority. While the AAP and its leaders have faced countless allegations, none of which have stood up to judicial scrutiny, the BJP must give an answer as to why it continues to protect Adani.”