[Kejriwal has eventually reversed his decision to occupy plush twin duplex government bungalows in Lutyens' Delhi.
The reversal did not come too easily. But the facts that he in the first place had decided to occupy these bungalows, running counter to his carefully cultivated "Aam Aadmi" image but eventually opted to back down being faced with strong public resentments go to show two contradictory trends - one, the tendency to "go with the flow", even if it belies his public commitments; two, a certain degree of flexibility and responsiveness to public criticism. That in all probability indicates that the Aam Aadmi Party, for all practical purpose, being "a work in progress", will be amenable to a larger extent than usual to organised civil society pressures. But in the absence of such public vigilance it will rather easily lapse into the usual "bad ways". Similarly, public pressure could play a large role in shaping its stands on various policy matters, like economy, foreign affairs, communalism, social equity etc. So public vigilance will be a crucial key, even if not the only one.] I/II. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/anna-hazare-says-arvind-kejriwal-bunglow-5-bedroom-flat/1/334384.html Anna Hazare says Arvind Kejriwal did the right thing by turning down 5-bedroom flats Former mentor and Gandhian Anna Hazare has supported Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's decision of refusing the 5-bedroom flats in plush Central Delhi. The veteran anti-corruption crusader has said that Kejriwal has done the right thing by turning down the offer. Earlier in the day, the Delhi Chief Minister announced that he would not be shifting to the sprawling five-bedroom duplex on plush Bhagwan Das Road in New Delhi and instead asked the government to look for a smaller house for him. There has been a lot of controversy in media and even several BJP leaders had questioned Kejriwal's austerity after it came to light that he would be taking the new houses. In the line of fire, the Delhi Chief Minister had asked the media on Friday to compare his recently-allotted official residence to the bungalow of his predecessor Sheila Dikshit, and indicated his was modest. Asked about his prospective house in New Delhi area, Kejriwal had said: "If you want, take your cameras to the flat, see for yourself and compare with the earlier CM's house." Opposing VIP culture, Kejriwal had earlier refused to shift to a government bungalow. He has been working from his apartment in Kaushambi in neighbouring Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. Kejriwal and several other AAP ministers have not taken any security cover are still using public transport and personal cars to commute in the national capital. In fact, the Delhi CM even went to Ramlila Maidan for his swearing-in ceremony on December 28 in his blue WagonR. Earlier than this, on December 22, he had turned down the security cover offered to him a third time. Before this, on December 13, the Magsaysay awardee activist-turned-politician had turned down the Delhi Police's offer of a security cover to the New Delhi MLA. In a polite reply to the Delhi Police Commissioner's offer of an X-category security cover which provides a personal security officer (PSO) at a time to the former IRS official, Kejriwal had written: "Thank you for offering me a PSO.But I don't need any PSO. God is my biggest PSO. Kindly use the services of the PSO you are offering me to provide security to the Aam Aadmi of Delhi." Even on October 24, when the Ghaziabad Police had contacted Kejriwal on directions from the Home Ministry, the AAP leader is reported to have said that the safety of crores of citizens was at stake and he was no different from them. II. http://www.indiatimes.com/news/more-from-india/arvind-kejriwal-justifies-2-duplex-flats-and-innova-cars-for-aap-ministers-120893.html Arvind Kejriwal Justifies 2 Duplex Flats and Innova Cars for AAP Ministers By IndiaTimes <http://www.indiatimes.com/source/IndiaTimes> | January 4, 2014, 6:00 am IST Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the media to compare his recently-allotted official residence to the bungalow of his predecessor Sheila Dikshit, and indicated his was modest. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's newly-alloted duplex house on Bhagwan Dass Road, in New Delhi on Friday. PTI Photo by Kamal Singh[image: Arvind Kejriwal House] Asked about his prospective house in New Delhi area, Kejriwal said: "If you want, take your cameras to the flat, see for yourself and compare with the earlier CM's house." The Aam Aadmi Party chief has been allotted two duplex flats - each with five rooms - on Bhagwan Das road in New Delhi, a stone's throw from Players' Building, the multi-storeyed Delhi government secretariat on the right bank of the Yamuna river. Children of labourers at outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's newly-alloted duplex house on Bhagwan Dass Road, in New Delhi on Friday. PTI Photo by Kamal Singh[image: Arvind Kejriwal's House] "There are two flats, one house will be used for living and one will be used for office work," Kejriwal told reporters here. Opposing VIP culture, Kejriwal, 45, earlier refused to shift to a government bungalow. He has been working from his apartment in Kaushambi in neighbouring Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. Aam Aadmi Party Ministers of Delhi, except Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, were given Toyota Innova cars as official perks. A number of ministers, including Manish Sisodia, Rakhi Birla and Saurabh Bhardwaj, came to Delhi Assembly complex in official cars. Asked if coming by such cars was reflective of practising austerity, Kejriwal downplayed it saying the party never said it's ministers will not use official cars. "We never said anything about not using cars. We said we will not use red beacon cars," Kejriwal said in reply to a volley of questions by reporters. The acceptance of official cars by the ministers came a day after the AAP government won a trust vote in the assembly with Congress support. A number of AAP Ministers and MLAs had come to Delhi Assembly using public transport like metro and auto-rickshaw in the last few days in tune with their "aam aadmi" credentials. Asked about the issue, Sisodia said the party was opposed to the VIP culture and there was nothing wrong in taking official cars. "We are opposed to the VIP culture of ministers and bureaucrats using red and blue beacons on their cars and not against using government cars. We are against taking big bungalows," Sisodia said. Asked whether Kejriwal will also accept a government car, Sisodia refused to answer. "My car did not have fuel and I had given my ATM card to my wife. So I had to used the government car," said Bhardwaj, Minister for Transport, Food Supplies and Enviornment. He also defended his cabinet colleague Birla accepting the car saying "she is a woman and as a minister she has to commute even during night time." *IANS* -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. 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