Lieutenant Governor House laments minister’s ‘ignorance’ on allotment rules

After Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned whether the previous Lieutenant Governor (L-G) had handed over the keys of Raj Niwas to the Public Works Department (PWD) and whether an inventory of Raj Niwas was taken before the new L-G moved in, sources from the L-G’s House criticised the minister for his “ignorance”.

In a statement, L-G House sources said, “Most respectfully, Bharadwaj is clearly unaware that the ownership of the President’s House, the Raj Bhavans and Raj Niwas lies with the President, Governors and Lt-Governors, respectively, and not with the CPWD/PWD or any other agency, unlike in the case of the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, ministers, judges, or other government houses. Bharadwaj’s lack of knowledge reflects in his functioning as Health and Urban Development Minister.”

Sources further clarified that prior to L-G VK Saxena’s move, an inventory of the Delhi Raj Niwas was duly conducted by the L-G Secretariat, and Raj Niwas has remained open to the public since Saxena took over.

“It would be educative for Bharadwaj to know that 65,000 people have visited Raj Niwas since June 2022, which is historic,” they added.

Earlier, Bharadwaj had tweeted that the L-G was spreading rumours in the media about Chief Minister Atishi’s belongings being thrown out of the CM House because she had not handed over the keys to the PWD.