Delhi: AAP holds mega rally, BJP puts up poster against CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence renovation

Last month, BJP workers staged a sit-in protest against Chief Minister Kejriwal over the residence renovation row. They protested outside his official residence and accused the Delhi government of spending a whopping amount of Rs 45 crore on the renovation of Kejriwal’s residence during the peak Covid pandemic.

During the protest, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva alleged that the Kejriwal government has been involved in several scams that a new house be built.

In response to that, AAP MP Sanjay Singh stated that Chief Minister Kejriwal’s official residence was an old house constructed decades ago and that there were incidents of roof collapse which is why the Public Works Department had suggested that a new house be built.

Earlier on April 26, hundreds of BJP workers held a protest against Kejriwal over the renovation of his house.

BJP leader Harish Khurana said, “It is questionable that a person who claims to be ‘Kattar Imaandar’ spends 45 crores rupees on the renovation of the official residence. He spent 11 crore on his wardrobe, obviously, questions will be raised.” AAP organised a mega rally at Delhi’s Ramlila ground on Sunday against the Centre’s Ordinance on control over administrative services in the national capital.Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, Delhi Minister Gopal Rai and party MP Sanjay Singh addressed the rally.

Notably, eminent lawyer and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal also addressed the rally and spoke about the legal and constitutional aspects of the ordinance. Sibal attended the rally at the invitation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Delhi Police has made a heavy security deployment around the Ramlila Maidan in view of the rally.

From May 23, Kejriwal embarked on a nationwide tour to seek support from the Opposition parties against the Ordinance.

The AAP national convenor has so far met with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav.

On Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said that if non-BJP parties come together, then the Centre’s ordinance can be defeated in Rajya Sabha. He said this would send a strong message that the Modi government will not come to power in 2024.

The Union government on May 19 brought an ordinance to notify rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) regarding the ‘transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters’.

The ordinance was brought to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and it circumvents the Supreme Court judgement in the Centre vs Delhi case.