'We Live In People's Hearts': Delhi CM Atishi On Bungalow Eviction Row, BJP Says 'New Drama'

In a fresh power tussle between the ruling AAP and BJP and in the national capital, Chief Minister Atishi on Thursday said BJP can have its “big bungalows” but her party lives in the “hearts of the people of Delhi”.

Accusing the BJP of attempting to occupy the chief minister’s residence, she said leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did not join politics to live in luxury, and will run the government from the streets if needed.

“The BJP is worried because it cannot defeat us in elections. When it cannot form the government, it starts ‘Operation Lotus’ and then puts the leaders in jail. Now they are thinking of occupying the CM residence… We did not come into politics to live in big bungalows. If needed, we will run the government sitting on the road, we live in the hearts of the people of Delhi,” she was quoted by news agency ANI.

The Flagstaff Road bungalow row picked up after the AAP shared images showing Atishi signing files at her Kalkaji residence surrounded by cartons. The BJP accused the party of indulging in “drama” and playing the “victim card” to gain sympathy.

‘During Navratri… BJP chose to throw out a woman from her house’

On Wednesday (October 9), the AAP claimed Atishi was made to “forcibly vacate” the 6 Flagstaff Road bungalow, following which the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said she returned to her private residence with her belongings after the CM’s residence was sealed.

“During Navratri, women are celebrated in India, and the BJP chose to throw out a woman from her house,” AAP leader Sidharth Sharma told CNN-News18.

Sharing Atishi’s images a day after, the AAP lashed out at the BJP saying it cannot take away her commitment to work for the people of Delhi. In a press conference, Atishi accused the BJP of attempting to encroach upon the “CM’s residence”.

She said the BJP was frustrated as it was not able to defeat the AAP in elections and was, thus, resorting to desperate measures. She added that the AAP was not in politics for cars and bungalows.

“If the BJP gets peace by encroaching on the CM house, they are welcome to it. Our party isn’t in politics for bungalows or cars. If necessary, AAP ministers and MLAs are ready to work from the streets,” she said.

‘Atishi working amid empty boxes’

The BJP, meanwhile, said contrary to what the AAP is trying to project, the Flagstaff Road bungalow is not the official residence of the Delhi CM. “It is like other government bungalows where Arvind Kejriwal lived as the chief minister,” said Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva. He challenged the AAP government to prove that the bungalow was “earmarked” as the official residence of the CM.

“We have no objections if Atishi wants to live there. But it must be done in accordance with the rules,” he said.

Accusing Atishi of playing the “victim card”, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta said, “The photos of Atishi working amid empty boxes is the Aam Aadmi Party’s new drama.”

Gupta visited the AB-17 bungalow on Mathura Road, allotted to Atishi last year after she became a minister. “She has a bungalow allotted in her name on Mathura Road that was earlier used by Sheila Dikshit for 10 years when she was the chief minister of Delhi,” he said.

He added: “Also, Atishi can work from her office at the Delhi Secretariat, but she is only making a futile attempt to play the victim card by posing with empty boxes.”

This is not the first time this particular bungalow on Flagstaff Road has been in the news. The BJP earlier ran a campaign against Kejriwal, alleging corruption in its reconstruction when he was CM. The party coined the term “sheesh mahal” while citing the “pricey” interiors and fixtures in the house.

Sachdeva alleged that since Kejriwal does not want the “corruption of sheesh mahal” to get exposed, the AAP is “desperate” to take possession of the Flagstaff Road bungalow.

(With PTI inputs)