Congress slams Kejriwal for delayed departure from official residence

Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal promised to vacate his official apartment on Sep 19, but Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav called it a "big drama" designed to deceive people. Yadav said Kejriwal should have left the property as soon as he resigned.

According to Yadav, Kejriwal resigned as Delhi Chief Minister because he anticipated losing badly in the early 2025 Assembly elections.

Yadav claimed that if Kejriwal was truly eager to leave his official residence in the Civil Lines area, he ought to have moved out right away after resigning as chief minister and avoided staging a major drama to deceive the public.

He went to the location of the building collapse in Karol Bagh's Bapa Nagar neighborhood when the building that housed a slipper factory and residential apartments collapsed, leaving four people dead and 14 injured.

"The Delhi government should pay suitable compensation to the families of the victims, though no amount can compensate for the loss of a dear one," he said.

He insisted on an inquiry to determine who was at fault and to stop such accidents from happening again.

He said that numerous buildings in Delhi are unsafe because of improper and unlawful construction, and the government needs to act quickly to stop these accidents.

The event happened on Sep 18.

M Harsha Vardhan, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), said that several individuals, including the building owner, have been questioned.

"We have also recorded the statements of some witnesses, in addition to forensic processing of the place of incident. We have also seized a record from the MCD office in Karol Bagh regarding their dangerous buildings survey. Further investigation is in progress," the DCP said.