The first session of the eighth Delhi Assembly begins today, with the tabling of 14 pending Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports and an anticipated clash between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over key policy issues.
The session will commence with the swearing-in of newly elected Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Chief Minister Rekha Gupta will move a motion to appoint senior BJP leader Vijender Gupta as the Speaker.
Additionally, BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht is expected to be elected as the Deputy Speaker, with the 70-member House comprising 48 BJP MLAs and 22 AAP MLAs.
Governor's address and CAG reports
On the second day, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena will address the Assembly, following which the long-pending CAG reports on the previous AAP government will be presented.
This is expected to lead to heated exchanges between the ruling and opposition benches.
Also read: AAP names Atishi as Delhi Assembly LoP
Atishi, the only AAP leader to retain her seat in the recent elections, has been appointed as the Leader of Opposition (LoP).
Notably, this marks the first instance in India where both the Chief Minister and the Leader of Opposition in an Assembly are women.
Election of Deputy Speaker
On the third and final day, the Assembly will take up the motion of thanks to the Lieutenant Governor and hold the election for Deputy Speaker.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely has been appointed the pro-tem speaker, as per an Assembly secretariat order notified on Friday.
AAP is set to challenge the BJP over its electoral promise of providing Rs 2,500 in financial aid to Delhi’s women under the proposed Mahila Samriddhi Yojana.
Since taking office on 20 February, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has assured that the scheme will be implemented from March after detailed financial planning.
However, she alleged on Sunday that the exchequer had been left in a precarious state by the previous AAP administration. "The condition which the (previous) government has left for us.
When we sat with officers to review the financial status of the current government, we found that the government exchequer was empty," Gupta stated.
Atishi refuted the claims, maintaining that AAP had left behind a "fiscally strong" government.
"I had expected that from the moment the BJP government was formed, it would start making excuses to avoid fulfilling its so-called guarantees and promises," she said at a press conference.
AAP further asserted that during its tenure from 2015 to 2025, the Delhi budget had increased from Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 70,000 crore.
The BJP’s victory in the recent elections marks its return to power in Delhi after a 27-year hiatus, having secured 48 out of 70 seats.
AAP managed 22 seats, while the Congress failed to open its account for a third consecutive time.
Also read: MCD to make 12,000 contractual workers permanent: LoP Atishi
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