Delhi Minister Calls AAP Chief "Dumbest Chief Minister" Over 'Phansi Ghar'
"This Vidhan Sabha can issue a certificate that we have had the most dumb Chief Minister" -- with that cutting remark, Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa sparked a political firestorm in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday, accusing former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of distorting history by turning an old service room into a fabricated British-era execution chamber.
The structure in question -- called a "Phansi Ghar" or 'Hanging house' on the Delhi assembly premises -- was inaugurated by then AAP government in 2022 at a cost of nearly Rs 1 crore. But this was declared "historically baseless" by the current government, which has now ordered that it be dismantled ahead of the All India Speakers' Conference scheduled later this month.
From Gallows to Tiffin Room?
The memorial, inaugurated on August 9, 2022, was built to resemble a jail, complete with iron gates, small bricks, and statues of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev installed inside what was presented as an execution chamber. It also included lift-operated nooses and original prison artefacts.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, however, told the House that the site was never an execution chamber and called the entire project a "gross distortion of history."
"This portion of the Assembly was a service staircase used by British officers, mainly for tiffin service. The real site of the Delhi jail was where Maulana Azad Medical College stands today," she said.
She called for the removal of all misleading signage referring to the "Phansi Ghar," saying the Assembly's image must not be tarnished before the coming conference.
"Man Who Went to Jail Giving History Lessons"
Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa went further, saying the former Chief Minister had "insulted national martyrs" by converting a tiffin room into a fake memorial.
"Mr Kejriwal has developed such a bad habit of spinning fanciful stories that he called the tiffin room a hanging chamber for martyrs, hurting the patriotic sentiments of this country," Mr Sirsa said.
He mocked the structure's design, which featured two lift rooms. "They are claiming that executions were carried out on one side while food came up on the other. What an incredible display of foolishness," he said.
Project Cost Questioned
"If something cost Rs 10 lakh, they claimed it was over Rs 1 crore. That's their main art. Even if a large party did it, the cost wouldn't go beyond Rs 20 lakh," Mr Sirsa said.
Raising suspicions of political motives behind such symbolism, he said: "They brought Tipu Sultan's photo here earlier, there was a motive. Now they say Bhagat Singh dropped a bomb here? There's definitely an agenda."
Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra joined in, alleging that the erstwhile AAP government had "tampered with history" for political theatrics.
"The martyrdom of martyrs has been insulted. The Kejriwal government spent crores to build fake gallows. This was a staged drama in the name of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru," he said.
"This is not just misuse of funds, it's emotional betrayal," he said.
AAP Defends Memorial, MLAs Marshalled Out
AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha defended the memorial, saying historical records from that period are not always complete.
"Many such execution sites were never officially documented. The 1912 map shows this as the only double-storey structure consistent with a hanging chamber... Are we whitewashing British tyranny just to target Kejriwal?" he argued.
He urged the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to assess the structure before any final decision is made.
As the debate escalated, Speaker Vijender Gupta ordered the marshalling out of Leader of Opposition Atishi and several AAP MLAs from the House.
What Next?
With the Assembly ordering the removal of the "Phansi Ghar" structure and associated signage, the controversy has opened a deeper conversation about the politics of memory and representation. While the BJP-led government calls it an "insult to martyrs," AAP insists it was a symbolic tribute to India's freedom fighters, albeit in the absence of concrete historical records.
As questions arise about the use of public funds, historical authenticity and political showmanship, the episode underscores a larger concern: how history is remembered, who gets to tell it, and whether facts are being shaped to fit narratives, or vice versa.
Whether the structure was a tribute, a distortion, or simply political theatre, one thing is clear -- ghosts of the past continue to cast long shadows in Delhi's corridors of power.
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