Amid the opposition parties’ “Maya Mahal” (Palace of Illusion) and “Rang Mahal” (Palace of Colours” jibe at the BJP Government, the Delhi Government has scrapped the tender renovation of chief minister Rekha Gupta’s official residence at Civil Lines Bungalow, owing to administrative reasons. The move is being viewed in the political circles as an attempt by the BJP Government to avoid “Sheesh Mahal” type controversy which became a major factor in the last Assembly polls in Delhi.
After moving into the Civil Lines bungalow, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had turned it into a “Sheesh Mahal” by spending a huge amount of money into its renovation from the public exchequer. Now the Public Works Department has informed the Delhi Government that it has finally cancelled the tender for the renovation of the CM’s official bungalow.
The PWD notification was issued three days after tenders were to be opened. The scrapped tender worth Rs 59.40 lakh was related to proposed installations at her residence including 14 air conditioners, televisions and electrical fixtures. She had been allotted two bungalows on Raj Niwas Marg by PWD — one for her residence and one for a camp office.
As per the original plan which included installing 14 split air conditioners worth over Rs 7.7 lakh, six geysers costing nearly Rs 92,000 and a fully automatic 10 kg washing machine priced at Rs 77,750. The ceilings were to feature chandeliers valued at over Rs 90,000 while ceiling fans— each priced at Rs 8,000— would have brought the total cost for fans alone to Rs 1.81 lakh. The kitchen, too, was designed for high-end functionality to include a wall-mounted 90 cm electric chimney with auto-clean features, touch control and a motion sensor- priced at Rs 27,309.
A five-burner gas hob with auto-ignition was estimated at over Rs 63,000. Plans also included a 20-litre microwave worth Rs 32,579 and a 71-litre oven-toaster-grill costing Rs 85,828.
The PWD had earlier allotted two bungalows to Gupta on Raj Niwas Marg, one for her residence and the other as her official camp office. She inaugurated the camp office just last week. Rekha Gupta - a first-time MLA and surprise chief minister pick after the BJP’s thumping win in February’s election - waited nearly a 100 days before being allotted a bungalow as her official residence. The allotment was finally made in early June; adjacent properties on Raj Niwas Marg in Delhi’s Civil Lines area were given to Ms Gupta for the duration of her term as Chief Minister.
She had chosen not to occupy the bungalow occupied by ex-Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal - also in Civil Lines - after it became the focal point of the BJP’s attack on the Aam Aadmi Party boss. The BJP had dubbed the house a ‘sheeshmahal’ and accused Kejriwal of spending crores of taxpayers’ money on lavish refurbishments.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Gupta interacted with people and listened to their grievances at ‘Jansunwai’ at her camp office on Wednesday. This was the first ‘Jansunwai’ at her camp office on Raj Niwas Marg, which was inaugurated by her on Friday. During the inauguration, the Chief Minister emphasised that public service is the “supreme duty” of her Government.