Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Saturday alleged that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has had the Punjab government build a Sheesh Mahal 2.0 for in Chandigarh, days after he was forced to vacate Sheesh Mahal in Delhi. Her reaction comes a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made a similar allegation against the former Delhi chief minister.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Maliwal claimed that the Sheesh Mahal 2.0 is a 'seven-star luxurious palace' built in Chandigarh's Sector 2. Kejriwal, she alleged, is living there at present after he got it extensively renovated.
The Rajya Sabha MP also alleged that she had raised this issue, but it was claimed that it was a camp office of the Punjab chief minister. "I don't understand in what capacity he was given this palace. He isn't even an MLA in Delhi," she said.
"But if it is indeed a camp office, why isn't it open to the public? Why is it locked from inside? And secondly, if this is indeed the Punjab Chief Minister's camp office, tell us how many meetings have been held there in the last four years?" Maliwal told ANI.
"This is a blatant lie. The truth is that this luxurious palace, Sheesh Mahal 2.0, now belongs to Punjab's super CM Arvind Kejriwal," she added.
BJP's allegations against Kejriwal
The BJP on Friday had made a similar allegation, with the saffron party even sharing an aerial image of the Sheesh Mahal 2.0 at Sector 2 in Chandigarh. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said though AAP did not fulfil the promises it made in Punjab, it built a seven-star facility for Kejriwal.
"He may not be an elected MLA, he may not be in the government, but a 7-star facility is being done only for him at the cost of the Punjabi tax payers," Ponnawalla said in a video message. "They have not given the money they promised to women of Punjab but provided a 100-car convoy for Arvind Kejriwal’s VVIP security, then a 7 star ‘alishaan’ (luxurious) mansion for him."
AAP refutes allegations
The AAP, meanwhile, has refuted the allegations levelled by the BJP and said that the saffron party is frustrated. "Ever since the Prime Minister's fake Yamuna story was exposed, the BJP seems to have lost its cool. And in its frustration, the BJP these days is faking everything. Fake Yamuna, fake pollution figures, fake claims of rainfall, and now fake 7-star claims," it posted on X.
