New Delhi: The Delhi assembly session starting Monday is expected to be a stormy affair. After 27 years, the BJP will be in power, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will sit in the opposition, setting the stage for heated debates and uproar in the House. According to sources, the BJP legislative party has strategized on how to counter the opposition.
The ruling party is set to target the opposition on issues like Sheeshmahal controversy, liquor scam, Yamuna cleanup, corruption, and the CAG report. Moreover, the government has prepared responses to every opposition question to ensure they are cornered on all fronts.
Meanwhile, the opposition is gearing up to attack the BJP over issues like allowances for women, broken promises, and alleged false commitments made by the ruling party. Given these, the first three-day session of the new government is likely to witness disruptions from both sides.
Arvinder Lovely appointed pro tem speaker
The session will commence with the oath-taking ceremony for new members. BJP MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely has been appointed as the pro tem speaker to conduct the proceedings until a new speaker is elected by the House. He will be sworn in by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. The BJP has nominated Vijender Gupta and Mohan Singh Bisht as candidates for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker, respectively. The election of the speaker is scheduled for 2pm today.
A day before the assembly session, Delhi’s political scene was abuzz with activity. Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva and chief minister Rekha Gupta held a meeting with the elected BJP MLAs to finalise the party’s strategy for the session.
CM Rekha Gupta has confirmed that the CAG report will be presented in the assembly and reiterated that the promises made to the women of Delhi will be fulfilled. She assured that her government is committed to delivering on its promises “1,000 percent”. She also accused the previous government of leaving the state treasury empty but asserted that despite this, her administration would fulfill its commitments.
Stormy session on the cards
After forming the government, CM Rekha Gupta had said that Delhi’s development is her top priority and that tackling corruption is on her agenda, ensuring accountability for every rupee spent. “Every single rupee of the hard-earned money of the public that was misused by previous governments will be accounted for,” Gupta said.
Earlier in the day, AAP MLAs unanimously chose former Delhi chief minister Atishi as the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly. In response to CM Gupta, Atishi accused the BJP government of making excuses instead of fulfilling promises. She challenged the ruling party to act on their commitments rather than finding reasons to delay them.
“AAP will show a strong opposition’s role is in the House and will raise all issues with full force. AAP will ensure that the BJP fulfills all its promises as the party in power, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to provide Rs 2,500 to women in the city by March 8. We promise that we will make the Rekha Gupta-led BJP government fulfill this promise,” she said at a press conference.
Atishi also stated that she had already sent the CAG reports to the House when she was chief minister.
