AAP alleges BJP councillor 'built hotel illegally'

New delhi: With the municipal polls in Delhi coming up next year, the AAP has upped its ante against the ruling BJP, with senior party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj on Monday accusing councillor Inderjeet Sehrawat of allegedly building a hotel worth Rs 20 crore in Mahipalpur "illegally" and purportedly amassing an unusually high number of properties in the last two years.

At a press briefing here, Bhardwaj, the AAP MLA for Greater Kailash, said that documents accessed through the Right to Information Act, had now purportedly shown that Sehrawat was the owner of the hotel by the name of "The Orient" in Mahipalpur. Even though on paper the South MCD has claimed that the property was booked for violations and construction stopped, Bhardwaj said the hotel's construction had been completed and it was ready.

Bhardwaj, who is also the party's chief spokesperson, asked where Sehrawat had acquired the money to build this hotel, showing documents that identified him as the owner of the property.

The senior AAP leader said that Sehrawat had declared three properties in his 2017 election affidavit but in fresh documents filed by him appraising his assets, Bhardwaj claimed, it showed him as the owner of seven properties.

He said, "If I show you the status of the construction today, the hotel has been fully constructed and is now ready. But according to MCD's paperwork, this hotel has been booked and all the construction activities therein have been stopped. And according to the police report, this building has been demolished."

He added that when the hotel began construction, the MCD Commissioner was informed of the unauthorised construction and a writ was also filed in the high court, following which the court had asked the MCD to take action and submit a report.