AAP held protests across the city on Wednesday, accusing the ruling party of not fulfilling its election promises.
Atishi, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly, wrote to Speaker Vijender Gupta on Wednesday, accusing him of “partisan treatment” towards the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in the last Assembly session. She urged him to treat the Opposition legislators fairly in the upcoming Budget Session.
In response, the Speaker said the allegations are “baseless” and based on “political considerations, not facts”.
The Speaker had on February 25 suspended 21 AAP MLAs, including the LoP, for disrupting Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena’s address to the House and barred them from the Assembly premises for three days.
Time allotment
In her letter, Ms. Atishi alleged that the ruling party members were allotted more time to speak than those in the Opposition during the discussions regarding the two Comptroller and Auditor General reports — on healthcare services and the 2021-22 excise policy during AAP’s tenure — that were tabled in the Assembly.
“The ruling party had 18 speakers, who spoke for a total of 190 minutes and were interrupted by the Speaker only once. However, the Opposition had five speakers, who got merely 33 minutes to speak, during which you interrupted them 12 times,” said the former CM.
Mr. Gupta wrote back to the senior AAP leader, saying, “I am surprised that instead of apologising for your and your party members’ disruptive behaviour, you are finding fault with my lawful directions.”
‘No free cylinders’
Meanwhile, the principal Opposition party held a series of public meetings across the city, slamming the BJP over its “unfulfilled election promises”.
Former AAP MLA Rituraj Jha slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making “a series of grand promises”, such as the ₹2,500 monthly aid for women and free LPG cylinders to women from poor families on Holi and Deepavali, but not staying true to his word.
Published – March 13, 2025 01:36 am IST