Arvind Kejriwal’s Alleged Trail Of ‘Sheesh Mahal’ Resurfaces With Another BJP Claim
New Delhi: Another “Sheesh Mahal” controversy over Delhi’s former Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal has come to the fore in a renovation row that is again boiling into a confrontation over privilege, image, and accountability, following an iteration from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
AAP leader Atishi has claimed that the photographs released by Delhi’s Public Works Department Minister Parvesh Verma were fake.
In a media conference on Saturday, Verma released some photographs of the interior of a residence, claiming Kejriwal has lavishly spruced up his official residence in the capital’s Lodhi Estate area. Like the recent one, similar allegations had earlier come on bungalows of Delhi’s Civil Lines and in Chandigarh as potent symbols in the ideological war of attrition.
The term “Sheesh Mahal” – a transparent, glass‑heavy hall symbolising luxury – entered electoral politics when sections of the media and the BJP alleged that Rs 44–45 crore was spent renovating the former Chief Minister’s official residence at Civil Lines‑Flagstaff Road.
On the 1930s bungalow that had stood in disrepair for decades, reports cited roughly Rs 97-lakh was spent on curtains, Rs 3 crore on imported marble, and additional crores on structural and interior upgrades, including kitchens and security, under the AAP‑led Delhi government.
Kejriwal’s critics argued that such a scale of expenditure, especially during or in the shadow of the Covid‑19 years, clashes with the austerity the AAP leader once promised. The AAP National Convenor had said that he and his ministers would opt for modest government flats instead of full‑fledged bungalows.
Official documents later cited by the media also showed that the annual maintenance cost of the bungalow between 2015 and 2022 averaged more than Rs 3.69 crore a year, prompting the BJP to call it a “taxpayer‑funded luxury house”.
Media reports, some citing Comptroller and Auditor General and internal audit data, estimated that the makeover of the Flagstaff bungalow cost around Rs 33–45 crore. These alleged cost overruns are about 342 per cent above the original budget.
Critics pointed out that even if the bungalow was “functional infrastructure”, the degree of opulence justifies the term “Sheesh Mahal” and demanded a probe into beneficiaries and contractors. In 2025, the focus shifted to Punjab, with the BJP again alleging that the AAP government allotted Arvind Kejriwal a “luxurious 7‑star” two‑acre government bungalow in Chandigarh’s Sector‑2, then dubbed the “Sheesh Mahal 2.0”.
The claim spread via social media posts and viral images, with BJP accounts asserting that this was a “personal” bungalow gifted from the Chief Minister’s quota, again drawing a contrast between the luxury of the shelter and the hardships of ordinary people. Then too, AAP leaders rejected the Chandigarh allegation, saying no such bungalow has been allotted to Kejriwal, that the building flagged online is a public‑use guest house.
They claimed that the BJP narrative is built on wrongly labelled maps and manipulated photos.
Regarding the Civil Lines residence, AAP leaders argue that it was a dilapidated heritage structure lying unused for years, and the renovation was necessary to secure a safe, functional official residence for the Chief Minister, not a personal palace.
They highlight upgrades such as modern security, fire‑safety systems, ramp‑access facilities, and eco‑friendly interiors, presenting the project as “infrastructural” rather than “ostentatious”.
AAP has also pointed out that several former Chief Ministers used similar bungalows without such public scrutiny, and that the “Sheesh Mahal” brand is a convenient political weapon wielded selectively against its leaders.
When the issue resurfaced in 2025, the AAP‑led Delhi government announced that the original Sheesh Mahal would be converted into a guest house with an in‑house cafeteria for public use, a move it says reflects “transparency and repurposing rather than personal enrichment”.
In the latest round, AAP leaders have dismissed the latest allegation as a “cheap publicity stunt”, insisting that 95 Lodhi Estate is merely another government bungalow reassigned under normal protocol. According to them, there is no new mega‑funded renovation underway. However, the BJP has stood by its allegations.
(IANS)
