The Public Works Department (PWD) has suspended a ₹60 lakh tender for renovation work at Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s official house. Officials suspended the tender for “administrative reasons” just three days before it was scheduled to be opened.
The cancelled tender had big electrical refurbishments like the installation of 14 air conditioners, 14 televisions for ₹9 lakh, and lighting worth ₹6 lakh. The tender was controversial for its timing and content, particularly as the political storm over the price of the former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence raged on.
CM Rekha Gupta Waited 100 Days for Official Residence by PWD
The government formally allotted an official bungalow to Rekha Gupta, a debut MLA and BJP’s surprise Chief Ministerial candidate, nearly 100 days after her February landslide win.. In early June, the government finally allotted her the adjacent properties on Raj Niwas Marg in Civil Lines, Delhi.
Gupta also refused to shift to the same Civil Lines bungalow previously occupied by former CM Kejriwal, which had become politically tainted. The BJP had called that house a “sheeshmahal”, blaming Kejriwal for squandering crores of taxpayers’ money on lavish revamps.
BJP Distances Itself from Kejriwal’s ‘Sheeshmahal’ Legacy
That home, which consolidated four government-owned lots to cover more than 40,000 square yards, was Kejriwal’s official residence between 2015 and his October 2024 resignation by PWD. A report from the Central Public Works Department, published that month, showed high-end appliances and lavish upgrades, prompting a federal investigation into suspected financial improprieties.
CM Rekha Gupta announced upon assuming office that she would convert the embattled bungalow into a museum.
Though the BJP has gone on to criticize Kejriwal on the issue of extravagance, the AAP and Mr. Kejriwal have not so far said anything about the scrapped tender for Ms. Gupta’s new residence. The cancellation could be a political gesture to create contrast with the past government, particularly in the wake of voter outrage against the ‘sheeshmahal’ controversy and the liquor policy scandal that had gone so badly against the AAP’s interests.
