‘Sheesh Mahal’ to ‘Rajmahal’: How AAP and BJP are trading blows as Delhi’s electoral battle heats up
Delhi Election 2025: The AAP and BJP are embroiled in a heated exchange over alleged lavish spending on government residences. With accusations flying over ‘Raj Mahal’ and ‘Sheesh Mahal’, both parties are scrambling to defend their reputations and sway public opinion.
Delhi Election 2025: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused that the prime minister's residence, which it dubs as ‘Rajmahal’, was built at a cost of ₹2,700 crore.
The ‘Rajmahal’ term is AAP's counter to the 'Sheesh Mahal' jibe, which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Modi have been using against Arvind Kejriwal for alleged lavish spending on the official bungalow where he lived when he was chief minister before quitting last year.
‘Modi’s palace (Rajmahal) should be shown to public," AAP said in a post on its X handle accompanying a poster of PM Modi.
Delhi's ruling party has alleged that the ‘palace’ was built at a cost of ₹2,700 crore and has carpets worth ₹300 crore and chandeliers worth ₹200 crore.
The ‘Sheesh Mahal’ vs ‘Rajmahal’ war is heating up in the run-up to Delhi Assembly Election scheduled on February 5.
The fight in the national capital is triangular, with three major parties – the AAP, the BJP and the Congress – in the poll fray.
The AAP, led by Arvind Kejriwal, won assembly elections in 2015 and 2020 quite comfortably. In the last two elections, the BJP was left with single-digit seats in the Delhi assembly, and the Congress was completely wiped out after ruling Delhi for 15 years before 2013.
‘Stopped from entering Sheesh Mahal’
On January 8, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bhardwaj said they were stopped from entering the Delhi chief minister's official residence, to which they had invited the media to tour with them in a bid to counter the BJP's ‘Sheesh Mahal’ jibes.
The 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow of former CM Kejriwal has sparked controversy over alleged irregularities in its renovation and costly fittings and household goods present in it. The BJP has focussed a big part of its assembly election campaign around these allegations, dubbing the bungalow “Sheesh Mahal.”
The saffron party's Delhi chief, Virendra Sachdeva, has claimed that valuable items, including a “golden commode,” were missing after Kejriwal vacated the bungalow.
In fact, Prime Minister Modi, too, during a BJP rally in Rohini last week, hit out at the AAP, saying their allegations that the Centre did not let the Delhi government work was "exposed by the ‘Sheesh Mahal’.”
"Who has instructed you to stop us? I am a minister, and I am here for an inspection. How can you stop me and on whose orders? Have you received directions from the lieutenant governor? He is the only authority above my position," Bharadwaj was heard telling an official.
Addressing a press briefing earlier, Bharadwaj had said he would visit the chief minister's official residence and try to find the golden commode, swimming pool, and minibar that the BJP claims are present there."
"It should be noted that both these properties are government residences. They were built with taxpayers' money and came up during the Covid pandemic. If there are allegations of misappropriation of funds, both should be investigated," he added.
‘Modi’s palace (Raj Mahal) should be shown to public,' AAP said in a post on its X handle.
Singh and Bharadwaj also said they would take reporters to the prime minister's residence, which AAP has dubbed ‘Raj Mahal’ and they claim was built at a cost of ₹2,700 crore.
Key Takeaways
- The AAP and BJP are using the narrative of extravagant government spending to attack each other ahead of the elections.
- The controversy surrounding government residences highlights issues of accountability and transparency in public spending.
- The outcome of the elections may be influenced by public perception regarding the alleged misuse of taxpayer money.
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Business NewsElections‘Sheesh Mahal’ to ‘Rajmahal’: How AAP and BJP are trading blows as Delhi’s electoral battle heats up
First Published:8 Jan 2025, 12:39 PM IST
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