In Chandigarh, Punjab’s chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann took to a video message on Saturday to fire back at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over a claim that a government‑owned bungalow had been turned into a luxury “Sheesh Mahal” for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal.
Mann said the so‑called “Sheesh Mahal” was actually a standard guest house used by the Punjab cabinet for visiting officials – the same building that once hosted a Pakistani journalist during the tenure of former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh. He reminded the BJP that the house had never been specifically renovated and has always been part of the state’s residential complex, much like other officials’ homes in Punjab and Haryana.
The BJP, however, claims that the bungalow in Sector 2 of Chandigarh, allocated to the chief minister under a special CM quota, has been upgraded into a palatial residence for Kejriwal. The party alleges the upgrade involved “crores” of public money and calls it a form of personal luxury.
“I have heard Arvind Kejriwal has taken over a multi‑crore rupee bungalow in Punjab that is even more costly than the one he built in Delhi,” said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva in a video response that also echoed remarks from Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma, who demanded an explanation. Sharma called the controversy “Sheesh Mahal 2.0” and suggested the BJP had no reason to criticize a Punjab building “except for the fact that AAP is gathering huge support in political rallies here.”
Mann refuted the allegations, saying the BJP’s charge is political diversion to distract voters from AAP’s rising popularity. He offered to share the addresses of genuine “Sheesh Mahals” owned by former BJP leader Capt Amarinder Singh and by Sukhvilas of Sukhbir Badal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, to show the original term’s origin.
The dispute has sparked a wave of social‑media posts, with BJP top‑liners demanding that Kejriwal explain whether he is “now planning to loot Punjab on the lines you did in Delhi?” Iran-which was originally an unused term used to refer to a grandiose residence at 6 Flagstaff Road, a former Delhi chief minister’s house – has become a political firebrand.
Local residents, meanwhile, watch closely as political leaders continue to clash, and as the BJP pushes for a public explanation of the renovations that they claim are a waste of public funds.
Source: ianslive
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