Delhi Assembly Session Kicks-Off Today: With AAP First Time In Opposition, Stage Set For Big Battle With BJP

Delhi Assembly Session: The tables have turned in Delhi and the Aam Aadmi Party will be playing the role of opposition for the first time in the Delhi assembly. While BJP MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely has been appointed pro-tem speaker, Vijender Gupta will be the assembly's speaker. On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party has appointed former CM Atishi as the Leader of the opposition. With Rekha Gupta as the Chief Minister, it's going to be an all-women clash in the Delhi assembly for the first time. The session will see the BJP MLAs occupy treasury benches for the first time in 27 years while the AAP will occupy the Opposition benches for the first time in 11 years.

What is interesting is that when the AAP ruled Delhi during the last two terms with a brute majority, it threw out then MLA Vijender Gupta (who will now be the Speaker) multiple times. Then AAP MLAs including Rakhi Birla, Sourabh Bhardwaj, Amantullah Khan and others humiliated the BJP MLAs while targeting their top leadership including Home Minister Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi. Now, it will be important to see if the Delhi assembly witnesses revenge politics or constructive governance.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday led a BJP legislature party meeting to strategize on countering the Opposition AAP regarding the CAG report on the liquor policy scam, which allegedly highlighted a Rs 2,026 crore loss to the exchequer.

What Is On Agenda?

With the Delhi assembly session beginning today, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is set to move a motion to nominate Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Vijender Gupta as the Speaker of the House. The election of the legislative assembly speaker will be held at 2:00 PM, while the newly elected MLAs will participate in the oath-taking ceremony at 11:00 in the morning.

According to the Delhi Assembly bulletin, Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena will address the assembly on February 25, following which the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports will be tabled. Later that day, the assembly will open the floor for the motion of thanks on the LG's address. On February 26, the discussion on the motion of thanks will begin at 11:00 AM, after which the election of the Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Assembly will take place.

CAG Report Battle

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday announced that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports would be tabled at the three-day assembly session. The Chief Minister accused the previous government of 'misusing' people's 'hard-earned' money and said that they would have to account for every penny.

"The most important thing is going to come. We said that we should put the CAG report on the House table in the first session. This is people's hard-earned money, which the previous government misused. They will have to account for each penny before the people," CM Gupta said in a presser.

CM Gupta Meets PM Modi, Amit Shah

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta met Union Home Minister Amit Shah last evening. She also met Prime Minister Modi last week. During her meeting with Home Minister Shah, the Chief Minister elaborated on the steps taken by the new government during the first few days in office to deliver on the electoral promises, including Yamuna cleaning, the introduction of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) scheme and repair of broken roads, said a party leader.

She also sought suggestions from HM Shah on the 100-day execution plan that the BJP government has set out to prepare to deliver 'Modi ki Guarantees'. CM Gupta also informed him about the instructions given to officials to draft guidelines for the enrolment of beneficiaries of the Rs 2,500 per month scheme for women.

The BJP came to power in the national capital after 27 years by winning 48 out of the 70 Assembly seats. The AAP, which has had over 60 members in the House for a decade, will be in the Opposition for the first time.