JOIN USThe official residence of Delhi’s chief minister on 3, Motilal Nehru Marg awaits its new occupant as the possibility of government formation seemed real on Sunday.
Whether Aam Aadmi Party’s convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who is set to become the new CM, will live in the bungalow is not clear.
But the maintenance and security staff have started carrying out the ground work to spruce up the sprawling British-era building in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi.
The outgoing CM, Sheila Dikshit, is in the process of packing her stuff to say adieu to the place she called home for nearly a decade. The house has four domestic help, including a cook, and all of them live with their families.
The CM’s house looked deserted from the outside with no police personnel manning the front door. Earlier, there used to be at least three to four policemen barricading in front of the 3 Motilal Nehru Marg house. Even the barricades, six of them, have been set free. A guard in nearby bungalow said, “Since the results of the elections are out, the CM’s house hasn’t been seeing much hustle-bustle.”
When one enters the residence, quietness still haunts the place.
Dikshit’s personal assistant A K Tripathi said the CM is relaxing these days. “She has been spending her time meeting family members and party workers who have been coming to sympathise with her. She is taking a break,” he said.
On whether she was planning to leave the house, he said, “She will be living here till the time the new chief minister takes oath.”
An electrician coming out of the house said some wires were changed there a week ago. “Some wires were burnt and they had to be replaced. I came here for the first time last week and have been visiting the place regularly since then,” he said.
Tripathi said they were not doing anything special. “They are all routine maintenance work.”
He added that the CM is following her usual routine. “She gets up at 6 am, takes a walk and then reads the newspaper. She eats breakfast at 9 am, lunch between 1 and 2 pm and dinner 10 pm,” he said.
“The only change is that now she gets to take a little rest in the afternoon.”
On whether the CM was not going out these days, Tripathi told Deccan Herald at 3 pm, “She has stopped going only to her office. Now also she has gone out for lunch.”
Time will tell whether Kejriwal forms the government and the house becomes his new abode.