Sheesh Mahal 2.0: BJP flags Kejriwal’s ‘7-star’ Chandigarh bungalow

The BJP on Friday alleged that former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal is being provided a “seven-star” Sheesh Mahal accommodation in Chandigarh under Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s quota, despite him not being an elected MLA or a state minister.

However, the AAP dismissed the BJP’s allegations as “completely false”. The party argued that the Chandigarh Administration functions under the BJP-led Centre, not the Punjab Government. “If any construction is taking place there, it can only be done by the BJP, not anyone else. The BJP is sharing pictures of the Chief Minister’s camp office and calling it Kejriwal’s bungalow. Where is the allotment letter?” the party asked in a post.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Punjab taxpayers’ money was being misused to extend seven-star luxury to Kejriwal, whom he termed the “super CM of Punjab”. “People of Delhi removed Kejriwal from his ‘Sheesh Mahal’ in New Delhi, but the Sheesh Mahal mindset has not gone. Now, part two of that luxury is being recreated in Punjab through public money,” Poonawalla said in a video message.

He further alleged that while the AAP government in Punjab had failed to fulfil its poll promises, such as providing financial assistance to women, it had instead allotted a 100-car convoy and a seven-star mansion for Kejriwal’s use. “Even AAP leaders who lost elections in Delhi have been accommodated in Punjab’s boards and commissions. This shows that Punjabi taxpayers are being made to pay for AAP’s Delhi leadership,” he said.

The Delhi BJP also posted a photograph of a bungalow on X, claiming it to be the luxury residence allotted to Kejriwal. “After vacating Delhi’s Sheesh Mahal, Punjab’s ‘Super CM’ Kejriwal has now got an even grander 7-star government bungalow under the CM quota in Chandigarh’s Sector 2,” the party wrote in Hindi.

The AAP said, “Since the Prime Minister’s fake Yamuna story has been exposed, the BJP has gone into panic mode. Now, it is manufacturing fake claims — fake Yamuna, fake pollution data, fake rain claims and now a fake 7-star bungalow.”

Meanwhile, Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma demanded an explanation from the Chief Minister over reports that a government bungalow in Sector 2, allotted under his CM quota, has been renovated as a new “Sheesh Mahal” for Kejriwal.

Sharma posted on X that the matter was no longer limited to Punjab alone, but was echoing in Delhi as well.

Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal raised this issue in New Delhi earlier today. Sharma wrote on X, “CM Mann, is it true that the Sector-2 bungalow allotted to you under your CM quota has been renovated as a new ‘Sheesh Mahal’ for Kejriwal? The people of Punjab deserve to know the truth.”

Sharma alleged that just as Kejriwal had built his “Sheesh Mahal” in Delhi by spending crores from public funds, a similar picture now seems to be emerging in Punjab. He said this was an attempt to secure personal luxury at the expense of public money, and that Mann must clarify the matter.