NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday took a veiled dig at Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal saying whilst he could have constructed a ‘Sheesh Mahal‘ for himself, his focus remained on providing homes for the underprivileged.
The BJP has been criticising Kejriwal over allegedly spending a huge amount of money on his official residence during his tenure as CM, referring to the dwelling as “sheesh mahal”.
AAP has defended the renovation, stating the residence was meant for all future CMs. Following Kejriwal’s resignation, Atishi briefly occupied the residence but had to leave as PWD needed to complete inventory checks before new allocation.
While inaugurating various projects including Slum Rehabilitation Project and Swabhiman Apartments at Jailorwala Bagh in Delhi, PM Modi, without taking names, said, “The country knows very well that Modi has never built a house for himself, but in the past ten years, I have fulfilled the dreams of over four crore poor families by providing them with homes. Mai bhi koi ‘Sheesh Mahal’ bana sakta tha’ (I could have built a ‘Sheesh Mahal’ for myself), but my only dream was for my fellow countrymen to have permanent homes.”
The Prime Minister also likened AAP government to ‘aapda’ for Delhi and called for its defeat in polls.
“For the past 10 years, Delhi has been engulfed by a major disaster (AAP-da). Some hardcore dishonest people, by confronting Anna Hazare, have pushed Delhi into this disaster. Scams in liquor policy, Scams in children’s schools, Scams in the treatment of the poor, Scams in the name of fighting pollution, Scams in recruitments,” PM Modi said.
“These people talked about the development of Delhi but they have become a ‘disaster’ themselves and have struck Delhi. These people openly engage in corruption and then even glorify it. First they steal, then they boast about it… this disaster has befallen Delhi. And therefore The people of Delhi have started a battle against this disaster,” he added.
PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the Veer Savarkar College at Roshanpura, Najafgarh. The new college will feature state-of-the-art facilities, including academic blocks in East Delhi and Dwarka, aimed at providing modern learning environments for students. He also laid the foundation for three new projects at Delhi University worth over Rs 600 crore.
He also inaugurated a series of development projects across the city, including 1,675 flats for residents of JJ clusters in Delhi. The flats, located at the Swabhiman Apartments in Ashok Vihar, are part of the government’s efforts to provide affordable housing to eligible beneficiaries in the economically weaker section (EWS).
