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By Kumar Kunal: A controversy has erupted after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was accused by the BJP of spending Rs 45 crore on renovating his official residence. The BJP alleged that around Rs 45 crore was spent on the “beautification” of Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence- 6, Flagstaff Road- in the Civil Lines area of the city. What is interesting to note is that 6, Flagstaff Road, has not always been the official residence of Delhi chief ministers.
In the past 30 years, Delhi has seen five chief ministers and all the CMs stayed in different residences. Since there is no designated CM residence as of now in Delhi, it is not necessary that future CMs will use the same bungalow as their official residence. Here’s a look at the historical background of all the CM residences so far in Delhi.
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DELHI CMs RESIDENCE IN PAST
In 1993, Delhi was given a special status among Union territories. Along with the legislative assembly, Delhi got its chief minister along with the chief minister’s residence. The first CM of Delhi after the new system came into existence was Madan Lal Khurana, an octogenarian politician from the BJP. When Madan Lal Khurana became the Chief Minister in 1993, he was allotted a house near the Delhi Vidhan Sabha.
Madan Lal Khurana and 33-Shamnath Marg
Madan Lal Khurana became the first Chief Minister of Delhi after the change in the system of governance. 33, Shamnath Marg was allotted to him as the official CM residence. The bungalow was quite near to the Old Delhi Secretariat, which is also known as Delhi Vidhan Sabha.
The residence was considered a haunted house and there were stories that none who lived in that bungalow could complete their tenure in the office. Despite these haunted house theories, Madan Lal Khurana accepted this bungalow as his official residence as he did not believe in such rumours. But he did not reside in this bungalow for the first six months. He had his own house in Kirti Nagar and preferred to commute to his office.
His son and now BJP leader Harish Khurana said, “We had four rooms in that particular flat. One of the rooms was on the ground floor and the other three were on the first floor. I do remember that we shifted after 6 months of my father resuming office as there were security concerns while coming to the secretariat all the way from Kirti Nagar.”
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In 1996, the Jain Hawala case came to light and Madan Lal Khurana had to resign. This resignation once again put the haunted house debate at the fore. After Khurana left this bungalow, it remained vacant for many years and then the Delhi government prepared a proposal to convert the bungalow into a state guest house. When the Arvind Kejriwal-led government came into power, t33, Shamnath Marg became the headquarters of Delhi Dialogue Commission.
Sahib Singh Verma and 9-Shamnath Marg
When Sahib Singh Verma took charge as the Delhi CM, he was allocated a new bungalow: 9-Shamnath Marg. Located just a few hundred meters from the first CM residence, its structure and architecture were similar to 33, Shamnath Marg.
The new residence was allocated to Verma, but according to a few of his acquaintances, Sahib Singh Verma hardly used to live at his official residence. This residence was mainly used for meetings as it was very close to the Secretariat.
Speaking to India Today, former Delhi Assembly secretary Sudarshan Kumar Sharma said,”We used to visit Verma’s official residence for important meetings. It was one of such CM residences which was always open for the commoners as well, especially those who were from the CM’s assembly constituency. Even social and cultural functions used to be organized there.”
After Sahib Singh Verma, this residence was allocated to ministers like Arvinder Singh Lovely during Sheila Dikshit’s tenure, and now Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel resides in the bungalow.
Sheila Dikshit’s 15 years and story of two official Bungalows
Sheila Dikshit came to power after a really brief tenure of Sushma Swaraj as the third CM of Delhi. With the regime change, the address of Delhi’s secretariat also changed. The new Delhi government office was at ITO and, hence, Sheila Dikshit was allotted an official residence at 17, AB, Mathura Road.
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It was a two-floor bungalow, where she lived for her first 5-year tenure as the chief minister. When Sheila Dikshit shifted into this bungalow, there were no offices attached. Later, two rooms were added to the original construction. It is the same flat which was later allotted to Manish Sisodia when he became deputy CM of Delhi and has now been allotted to Atishi.
The Mathura Road residence was on the main road and that was the reason why Sheila Dikshit decided to change it.
Sheila Dikshit’s former personal secretary, A K Tripathi, told India Today, “Mathura Road residence was right in front of the Pragati Maidan. We faced regular traffic problems due to conventions and fairs being organized at Pragati Maidan. Even security problems were there and hence Sheila ji was looking for a new Bungalow.”
At the time, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor used to live at 3, Moti Lal Nehru Marg. The Lutyens’ Delhi bungalows come under the central pool. When Romesh Bhandari became the L-G , he got this residence, and later on even Vijay Kapoor used to live in the bungalow.
After Vijay Kapoor vacated it, Sheila Dikshit shifted her residence to 3, Motilal Nehru Marg in November 2004. The Type-VIII bungalow with 5 bedrooms and a sprawling lawn was her residence for almost nine years. But even during her stay, there was hardly any construction except the temporary offices made at the entrance.
Sheila Dikshit’s media advisor Satpal told India Today, “I remember that Sheila ji’s residence was always open for the MLAs, party leaders and journalists. She had two visitors’ rooms where people used to sit all the time and she would come out to meet them whenever she was free from her official work. “
Now, the same house has been allocated to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
WHAT ABOUT CM RESIDENCE IN OTHER STATES?
West Bengal
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee does not own any property in her name. Since her first term in office, she has refused to move to official government accommodation for CM. She continues to reside at her paternal residence located at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street.
Despite insistence from the Bengal home department and security agencies about threat perception, Mamata Banerjee has refused to move out from her existing accommodation.
Telangana
KCR moved into a Rs 50-cr palatial 9-acre bungalow ‘Pragathi Bhavan’ with a bullet-proof bathroom in November 2016. Pragathi Bhavan covers a nine acre area in Begumpet in the heart of Hyderabad and has a theatre that can accommodate 250 people and doubles up as an auditorium.
The complex also has homes for some senior government officials, a massive conference hall, and a mini-secretariat which includes some government offices and windows fitted with bullet-proof glass. Among various jaw-dropping features of the office-cum-residence complex is a bullet-proof toilet.
The new office-cum-residence is vastu compliant. The CM did not consider the office constructed during the regime of the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy in 2005 (at a cost of Rs 10 crore, spread over 1.5 acres), as lucky or in tune with his vastu beliefs. He only used the residential quarters and avoided entering the office premises.
The KCR government then decided to demolish the IAS Officers Association in Begumpet to construct a bigger residential and official complex. According to his trusted vastu advisor, Suddaka Sudhakar Teja (who was appointed ‘advisor on architecture’ to the government in 2015), the new complex would provide positive vibes for KCR, and any future CM.
Kerala
The Left government in Kerala was under fire over its decision to renovate Cliff House, the official residence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, spending nearly one crore rupees. The Congress had raised the issue in the Kerala Assembly and sought to know how the government’s declared policy of financial austerity and spending a whopping amount on ‘refurbishing’ the CM’s bungalow would go together.
State Finance Minister K N Balagopal, however, rejected the criticism of the opposition parties, saying the government was taking all possible steps to reduce expenditure.
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