Kejriwal moves to 5, Firoz Shah Road

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday vacated his Delhi government bungalow on 6 Flag Staff Road in Civil Lines in north Delhi and shifted “as a guest” to 5 Firoz Shah Road – a central government bungalow near Mandi House, allotted to party’s Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Ashok Mittal.
At 11.12am, Kejriwal walked out of the main entrance of the Flag Staff Road bungalow with his father, mother, wife, and other family members. Kejriwal held his elderly father’s hand and made him sit inside the car. His wife, Sunita Kejriwal, also guided her mother-in-law to the car.
Sunita Kejriwal locked the bungalow’s main entrance and handed over the key to a government official who was present there as they left the house. “The bungalow has been handed over to the Public Works Department (PWD),” said a PWD official asking not to be identified.
The Delhi CM’s residence staff were seen standing outside as Kejriwal and his family left the house to see them off. Kejriwal shook hands with some staffers and hugged others before getting inside his car. The Kejriwal family left the CM’s residence in two vehicles. Kejriwal was seen in one car with his wife and son, while the other ferried his parents and daughter.
Earlier in the day at 8.40am,two mini-trucks entered 6, Flag Staff Road to transport the Kejriwal family’s belongings to their new address.
At 5, Feroz Shah Road, AAP MP Ashok Mittal was waiting outside to welcome the former chief minister and his family at 11.45am. Kejriwal and his family performed a small puja at the entrance before stepping inside. According to party leaders, this bungalow will be Kejriwal’s new address for now — at least until the upcoming elections. They said that if he wins the mandate and is elected CM again, he will likely shift back to his Delhi government bungalow.
Before becoming the chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal lived in Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. When he first became CM in 2013, he moved to a house on Tilak Lane in Lutyens Delhi. Months after the AAP got a full majority in the Delhi assembly in 2015, Kejriwal moved to 6 Flag Staff Road, where he has been staying since 2015.
Kejriwal resigned as Delhi CM on September 17, days after being released from prison on bail, and vowed only to return if he passes the “trial of fire” in the assembly elections.
Days before he resigned, AAP leaders hinted that Kejriwal would vacate his official residence in Civil Lines and stay somewhere in the New Delhi area as it is the constituency he represents in the assembly. AAP leaders said Kejriwal does not own a house in Delhi, which prompted them to offer their residences to Kejriwal. Finally, Kejriwal chose Ashok Mittal’s bungalow.
Kejriwal has been New Delhi MLA since 2013.
In 2023, the Flag Staff Road bungalow was the centre of a controversy over renovation expenses. The BJP alleged that the AAP government spent ₹45 crore renovating the house. The AAP defended the renovation, saying that the CM house was built decades ago and was in a dilapidated condition.
To be sure, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) into alleged irregularities and misconduct in the renovation of the official residence of the then Delhi CM in September 2023. The PE was registered on the basis of a report the then Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar submitted flagging irregularities in the house’s renovation. Later, the CBI took files related to the matter from PWD offices.
A PWD official said a decision on its future allotment has is yet to be taken.
In a video statement, Mittal said he invited Kejriwal to stay in his bungalow as his guest on Thursday. “…it brings me great joy that he accepted… I am happy that he will stay with me, and I will get to learn from him,” he said.
Meanwhile, AAP senior leader Manish Sisodia on Thursday moved from AB-17 Mathura Road to 32, Rajendra Prasad Road, near India Gate, a central government property allotted to another of the party’s Rajya Sabha MPs, Harbhajan Singh.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that Kejriwal had promised on an affidavit in 2013 that he would not accept a government bungalow, vehicles or security but even though he is not longer the chief minister, he is still staying in a government bungalow. “Kejriwal should burn the original copy of the affidavit written on June 7, 2013, in front of media cameras outside his new residence at 5 Firoz Shah Road, so that the people of Delhi no longer question him about morality,” said Kapoor.
BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, “Kejriwal could not live without the bungalow even for a day. The public has nothing to do with whose bungalow he is living in or what trick he has used. AAP leaders have become the special Aam Aadmi of Delhi.”