The three- day Delhi Assembly session began from Monday, February 24 with an all new government and many newly elected MLAs. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta along with the BJP MLAs as well as the opposition MLAs, total 70 took the oath on the first day. The second day had just begun today, filled with chaos and disruptions. Speaker Vijendra Gupta had to suspend all 22 AAP MLAs for causing disruption and sloganeering in the House.
Ever since the commencement of the day 2 of the session, there was a wide uproar from the opposition in the Delhi Assembly. This comes ahead of the now elected BJP government’s step to table the 14 pending CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) reports that purview the performance of the Aam Aadmi Party in power. BJP alleges that the 14 reports were ‘blocked’ by AAP. Among those pending includes reports on state finances, public health infrastructure, vehicular air pollution, liquor regulation, as well as the Delhi transport corporation’s functioning among the others.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had also pulled up then Chief Minister Aatishi for not presenting the CAG reports in the house. He had even called for a special session on December 19 and December 20. Today, he informed in the assembly that the BJP Government had instructed the heads of all the departments to make a 100-day plan and an outline of the developmental works that have to be done. He said, “In the first cabinet meeting of my government, it was decided that the CAG report would be tabled in the assembly and presented before everyone, which would expose the administrative failures of the previous government and will help us work on them.”
After the suspension, opposition leader Aatishi said to the media, “The BJP has replaced Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar’s photo with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s in the Chief Minister’s office in the Delhi Secretariat and Assembly, as well as in the offices of all ministers in the Delhi secretariat…Do they believe that the Prime Minister is greater than Babasaheb Ambedkar and can take his place?”
AAP MLA Jarnail Singh also reacted to their suspension saying this is “dictatorship at its peak.” He added, “The portraits of Dr. BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh were removed…They are not giving us any answer. They just suspended us from the assembly.”
Dr. VK Saxena harshly criticized the behavior of opposition in the assembly saying, “Those who show their arrogance get their response. And the people of Delhi have given their mandate. I have nothing more to say.”
Meanwhile, AAP MLAs have called for protests outside the assembly, Aatishi leading it. She said that they will continue protesting from the House to the streets. The CAG reports are all set to be presented in the House after sometime.