Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav on Friday opposed the reported proposal to lease former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence at 6, Flag Staff Road as a hospitality property. He said the bungalow should instead be preserved as a “Monument of Corruption” and converted into a public utility centre.

Yadav said the property, referred to as the “Sheesh Mahal” by the BJP, should be kept in its present form to allow people to see how, he alleged, power corrupted a leader who claimed to represent the common people.

He alleged that the Rekha Gupta-led Delhi Government was considering handing over the bungalow to a luxury hospitality operator, saying such a move would justify the public expenditure incurred on its “illegal reconstruction”.

Citing a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit report, Yadav said the renovation and additions to the bungalow cost Rs 33.66 crore. He also claimed that the Delhi Congress had earlier approached Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena over the alleged expenditure, which the party had estimated at around Rs 70 crore, and alleged that the work violated building norms. “It should be maintained in the same condition as it was when Kejriwal lived there instead of spending more public money on further renovation,” he said.