The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday urged Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to restore the official residence of the Delhi chief minister to its original form, The Hindu reported.

The party said that its chief minister will not reside at the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow. The residence, referred to by the BJP as a “sheesh mahal”, or an opulent palace, had been used by Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal when he was the chief minister.

The BJP defeated the Aam Aadmi Party in the Assembly election on Saturday, winning 48 seats in the 70-member Assembly. The AAP bagged 22 constituencies.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said that eight type-five flats and two government bungalows were merged with the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow located at Civil Lines to create “a lavish complex spanning over 50,000 square metres”, reported The Hindu.

He sought the “urgent intervention” of the lieutenant governor “to restore these properties to their original status and return 6, Flagstaff Road to its previous area of less than 10,000 square metres”.

Sachdeva said that the decision on what purpose the structure is to be used for will be taken after the BJP forms the government in the national capital.

The party is yet to announce who will be the Delhi chief minister, its first in the national capital in 26 years.

The BJP has repeatedly claimed that the chief minister’s official residence in the national capital was turned into a “sheesh mahal” when Kejriwal held the post.

The Hindutva party has alleged that renovations worth more than Rs 40 crore were carried out inside the residence.

During the Delhi polls campaign, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on January 28 also repeated the BJP’s claims that Kejriwal had constructed a “sheesh mahal”.

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