New Delhi:

The face-off between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Centre over Atishi’s alleged eviction from her official residence escalated on Thursday with the Delhi chief minister claiming that the BJP was trying to seize the chief minister’s house because it could not get the post. She also said that the BJP could keep the bungalow if it wanted because leaders from the AAP “live in people’s hearts”.

In a series of jibes aimed at the BJP, Ms Atishi said the party has been using one ploy after another, including ‘Operation Lotus’ – a term used by opposition parties to allege that the saffron party poaches and bribes MLAs to try and form its governments in states it has lost – to hamper the working of the AAP-led Delhi government. 

“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 said in Hindi. 

“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.

Ms Atishi had taken oath as the chief minister on September 21, days after Arvind Kejriwal resigned. The AAP chief had said he was giving up the post after getting bail from the Supreme Court in the liquor policy case and would take it up again only if the AAP gets re-elected in the Delhi Assembly polls next year and he gets justice in the people’s court.

The AAP had said on Tuesday that Ms Atishi was evicted from the official residence vacated by Mr Kejriwal just two days after she had moved in. 

“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.

‘How Can 2 Houses Be Allotted?’

Sources in Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s office said that 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 claimed that Mr Kejriwal had not even vacated the bungalow entirely and most of his belongings were still there. It also said the residence had not been handed over to the Public Works Department 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.”