Editorial: A House For Mr Kejriwal

A few days ago, the Public Works Department of the Delhi government compiled a list of fittings and fixtures at 6 Flagstaff Road, Civil Lines, Delhi. It was Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official bungalow until a couple of days earlier which he vacated upon his resignation. Why Kejriwal felt constrained to resign upon his release on bail in the Delhi liquor excise scam in itself is a comment on his skullduggery. Instead of resigning in March this year when arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, he dug in his heels, clinging to the CM’s “gaddi” against convention in all such cases. Notice the contrast. Sometime around the time, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was arrested in a corruption case. He immediately resigned. Upon release on bail a few weeks later, he reclaimed the CM’s post. The court had not stipulated any condition which could impair his functioning as chief minister. However, in the AAP supremo’s case, the apex court barred him from attending CM’s office or signing any file. You may ask why such stern conditions in the case of Kejriwal. Maybe because he did not heed the set precedent, continuing to pretend that running the CM’s office from prison was okay in law. The SC order forced him to nominate Atishi Marlena as CM, who betraying her foreign degrees dramatically placed an empty chair next to her, claiming she was a mere chair-warmer for Kejriwal. But the charlatan that he is, Kejriwal made it out that his resignation was a moral, and voluntary, act in keeping with the best traditions of public life! Now, to get back to the PWD inventory for the official abode of the Aam Aadmi CM. Even a cursory reading of the items would be enough to testify the veracity of the media reports about the huge expenditure lavished on the construction and interior decoration of what had popularly come to be called Sheesh Mahal. It proved the old adage about there being no smoke without fire. Remarkably, the AAP minions the Supremo routinely sends out nightly to tell lies on his behalf, remained tongue-tied even as sections of the media blared out in graphic detail about the vulgar ostentation in `renovating’ a house for Kejriwal and family. The land under coverage in the CM complex was increased by appropriating four adjoining houses of judicial officers who were summarily made to vacate. The built- up area in Delhi CM’s house was now four times the normal sanctioned limit for senior central cabinet ministers. Since no monetary value was put on the over 2,000 square meter-complex, public discourse omitted the land-value while reckoning that nearly Rs. 1,00 crores was spent on building and interiors. It is probably the most opulent government house in India. Old-timers claim that they cannot think of any chief minister or central minister who had lavished such a vast amount of taxpayers’ money building an abode for himself. Short of genuine silver and gold toilets, Kejriwal spared no expense on ensuring vulgar luxury for self and family. Politicians with great private fortunes on becoming MPs or even ministers do not spend so vulgarly on official residences as the AAP messiah did, raiding the public treasury.

Imported Japanese toilet seats, costing up to Rs 12 lakhs each, walk- in imported refrigerators, king-sized cooking ranges, dozens of ultra-smart TVs, water purifying systems costing upwards of Rs. 15 crores, massaging chairs and sofas, fancy curtains, waterfalls, art-worked pillars, manicured lawns and garden furniture et al adorned the abode of an “aam aadmi” who goes to great lengths to be seen in public sporting a cheap bush-shirt, un-ironed trousers, modest chappals or shoes and a regulation one-rupee ballpoint in chest pocket. The PWD claimed that the expensive toilet seats were missing while it took charge of the house as per the established drill when a house is vacated and before its allotment to the next occupant. Even here, apparently to avoid PWD inventory, Kejriwal handed over the keys to Atishi Marlena, in defiance of the set procedures. Anyway, the bigger con he indulged in while erecting Sheesh Mahal was to get around the stipulation which required the Delhi government to seek prior approval of the Lieutenant Governor, Vinay Kumar Saxena in this case, before spending Rs. 10 crores or above. So, the new-fangled messiah split the expenditure into several bills, all slightly less than the Rs. 10-crores. Also, it will be interesting to find out whether any kickbacks were involved in the procurement the expensive toys and trinkets brought for the amusement of Kerjiwal and family. A whole host of items were bought at the maximum listed price, while it is customary in all such cases for the actual price to much lower. These nagging questions must be explored once a thorough investigation is undertaken into the AAP supremo’s heist. Even the most wealthy are careful with their money, avoiding wasteful expenditure. But not Aam Aadmi Kejriwal. Small wonder that for the first time in three decades Delhi is staring at a huge hole in its budget. Even the AAP government in Punjab has run up a much bigger deficit than it had inherited from the previous Congress government. Of course, politics is teeming with charlatans, but there has been no bigger charlatan in Indian politics than the AAP supremo. He is a disgrace even to the civil society movement from where he had emerged to clean the Augean stables of politics – only to sully it the most.