New Delhi, July 6: Delhi PWD Minister Parvesh Verma said on Monday that the former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence or “Sheesh Mahal”, situated in the Civil Lines area in North Delhi, will be converted into a state guest house. He said a “Rang Mahal” will be developed on the premises to accommodate government guests and dignitaries.
Even in the past, Parvesh Verma targeted the then Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal over the wastage of public money on the renovation of his erstwhile official CM residence or “Sheesh Mahal”. In a video shared on social media, the Delhi Minister described Kejriwal as “Delhi’s Rehman Dakait” – a comparison with an underworld character in the Bollywood blockbuster “Dhurandhar”.
The video depicted the lavish facilities created for the then Chief Minister Kejriwal at his official residence. Calling Kejriwal “Delhi’s Rehman Dakait”, Parvesh Verma also released a spoof video titled “Dhurandhar PART 3”. In the video, he took the viewer on a guided tour of the former Chief Minister Kejriwal’s residence in the Civil Lines area that stands sealed at present.
He also showed the bungalow’s Rs 1.5 crore kitchen, Rs 95 lakh switches, Rs 88 lakh chandelier, and Rs 28 lakh TV, highlighting that the monthly electricity bill of the bungalow was Rs 5 lakh. Criticising Kejriwal for his corrupt practices, Parvesh Verma said, “A person who misused photos of Mahatma Gandhi and Shaheed Bhagat Singh and circulated an affidavit swearing that he would never accept official accommodation spent crores of rupees on silk carpets, bathroom fittings, TV, Vietnam marble floor and automatic curtains.”
The PWD Minister said Kejriwal’s corruption was tactfully camouflaged by him under his poor, common man profile, which he built by keeping a Rs 2 pen in his shirt pocket and moving around wearing oversized clothes. “He used to say that I won’t take a bungalow, I won’t take a house — today it is clear that what he meant was I won’t take an ordinary one. I’ll take a palace, but I won’t take an ordinary house,” said Parvesh Verma.
IANS
