The escalating face-off between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Centre over the alleged eviction of Ms Atishi from the Delhi chief minister's residence seemed set to end with a whimper with the Public Works Department formally allotting the bungalow to her on Friday.
In a notification, the department said it was pleased to offer the bungalow to Ms Atishi and that she needed to submit her acceptance within eight days. The offer letter also said that she would have to surrender possession of any government house or bungalow allotted to her within 15 days of taking possession of the new one.
The controversy began on Wednesday after the AAP claimed that Ms Atishi, who took over as the Delhi chief minister from party chief Arvind Kejriwal last month, was evicted from the 6, Flag Staff Road bungalow vacated by him just two days after she had moved in. This, the party alleged, was done by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at the behest of the BJP.
"For the first time in the history of the country, the Chief Minister's residence was vacated. At the behest of the BJP, the Lieutenant Governor forcibly removed Chief Minister Atishi's belongings from the chief minister's residence," the chief minister's office (CMO) alleged.
The claim prompted a strong response from Mr Saxena's office and the BJP, who said that the bungalow had not been allotted to the new chief minister. Sources in the Lieutenant Governor's office said Ms Atishi had kept her belongings in the bungalow even before it was allotted to her and had then gone on to remove them herself.
"This house has not been allotted to Chief Minister Atishi yet. Her residence is still 17 AB Mathura Road (which was allotted to her after she became a minister last year). How can two houses get allotted?" a source said.
The BJP had said most of Mr Kejriwal's belongings were still at the bungalow and he had not even vacated it entirely. It also said the residence had not been handed over to the Public Works Department (PWD) so that a fresh allocation could be done.
In a letter to the special secretary of the CMO, BJP leader and leader of the opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, wrote: "It is brought to your attention that the keys of the house at 6, Flag Staff Road, handed over to PWD were taken back after some time and are yet to be handed over to PWD to complete the process of handing over."
'Live In People's Hearts'
Reacting to the claims, Ms Atishi said on Thursday that the BJP was trying to seize the chief minister's bungalow because it could not get the post and said the party was welcome to do so because leaders from the AAP "live in people's hearts".
"The BJP is worried because it cannot defeat us in elections. When they are unable to form a government, they start 'Operation Lotus', then they put leaders in jail. They could not have their own chief minister, so now they are thinking of seizing the chief minister's residence. If this brings them peace, they are welcome to do so," she had said.
"We did not come into politics to live in big cars and big bungalows, if needed, we will run the government sitting on the road. The BJP can enjoy the bungalow, we live in people's hearts," she added.
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