Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijendra Gupta condemned the comments made by Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav on high cost of the renovation of Speaker’s official residence.
Gupta sought an unconditional apology from Yadav and said that office of Speaker should not be dragged to score political points.
A letter from Speaker’s office stated, “The news reports attributing the statements to you, state that the Hon’ble Speaker is renovating the official residence at an expense of Rs 2.35 Crores out of which Rs. 94.69 Lakhs is for the bathroom and toilets. It is reported that you have named the Speaker’s residence as ‘Shauchmahal’. You have mentioned the location of the official residence of the Speaker as 9, Shamnath Marg which is not the official residence of the Speaker.”
“You should immediately withdraw your statements and submit an unconditional written apology to him within three days of receipt of this correspondence. As you are a former Member of the Delhi Assembly, utmost care and respect should be accorded to the Office of the Speaker and it should not be dragged to score political points,” the letter further stated.
Meanwhile, replying to the letter, Yadav said that the facts and figures mentioned by us regarding the renovation of the Speaker’s official residence are correct, as the records in our possession indicate.
“With due respect, we would like to reiterate that the statement in question has merely raised a legitimate concern regarding the excessive expenditure of public money incurred by certain BJP legislators. including the Hon’ble Chief Minister. As the Speaker holds a Constitutional post. he is expected to exercise caution when spending tax payers’ money for the renovation of official residence,” Yadav said in the letter.
As Leader of the Opposition, the Hon’ble Speaker had raised similar concerns, including his strong objections to the renovation of the ‘Sheeshmahal’ by the previous AAP Chief Minister.
“We have raised the issue of the expenditure involved in the renovation of the Speaker’s official residence in the same spirit of accountability — a responsibility we share as representatives of a responsible National Opposition Party,” the letter said.
Earlier, Yadav lashed out at the BJP leaders for misusing the taxpayers’ money for their luxurious living while the residents of Delhi are going through terrible struggle under severe heat due to frequent power cuts and shortage of potable water.
He said that the BJP leaders’ royal living is funded by taxpayers’ money as he dubbed the official bungalow of Assembly Speaker Vijendra Gupta as the “Shauch Mahal” (Toilet Palace)’ just as he had previously referred to CM Rekha Gupta’s bungalow as “Phoolkumari Niwas.”
