A fresh political row has erupted as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Delhi Assembly Atishi on Wednesday accused Speaker Vijender Gupta of "undermining democratic norms" by selectively targeting opposition MLAs during the Assembly session that concluded on March 3. Hitting back, Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta defended his decision of keeping the suspended members out of the House as he hit out at Leader of Opposition Atishi for making "baseless" allegations.
In a reply to Atishi regarding her memorandum, Gupta reiterated that he had repeatedly clarified the decision to keep out the members who had been suspended by the House was strictly as per Rule 277 read with the definition of precincts. He further mentioned that the definition explains in detail the area covered under precincts and includes 'approaches'.
The first session of Delhi Assembly Session had witnessed war of words between the ruling and opposition dispensations after row over allegations of removal of portraits from offices at Delhi Vidhan Sabha. In a letter addressed to Speaker Gupta on Wednesday, Atishi alleged that opposition legislators were unfairly marshalled out during the lieutenant governor's address (on February 25) for chanting slogans, whereas BJP MLAs faced no action for similar sloganeering.
"During the address of the L-G VK Saxena, sloganeering was done by MLAs of the opposition and the ruling party. The opposition raised slogans of 'Jai Bheem', while the ruling party raised slogans of 'Modi, Modi, Modi'. All opposition MLAs were marshalled out of the Assembly, however, no ruling party MLA was marshalled out or asked to leave despite repeated sloganeering by them," Atishi wrote.
Gupta expressed he was surprised that instead of an apology on behalf of her party members' disruptive behaviour, she was rather finding fault with his lawful directions. He mentioned to the LOP regarding floor time, that as per rules and parliamentary conventions, it is allotted as per party's strength, and added that she must keep in mind that the time would also be determined depending on the members present in the House. "The opposition members were not present for three days owing to their suspension," Gupta added.
He further said that AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, who was present in the house during that time, was allowed to participate in the debate, but he rather opted to walk out thereafter, and did not participate in further discussions. He told Atishi that she may also note that the floor time used by the Chief Minister or any Minister is not included while calculating the floor time as they are allowed to intervene at any point as per rules.
Clarifying about his interventions, the speaker expressed that he had to intervene when the House was not in order, and any member was making statements to provoke and disrupt the proceedings.
Regarding LOP mentioning about Gupta's acts during his tenure as an opposition member back in time, he said it will not be appropriate for him to reply in detail about the reasons for protests back then, but mentioned that she must kindly bear in mind that when he was in opposition, his party members resorted to judicial recourse and got relief from the Courts for the actions of the then Speaker and previous government.
He assured the LOP that he intends to run the House strictly as per the rules, Constitutional provisions, and parliamentary conventions, and asserted that unparliamentary conduct by any member shall be dealt with strictly.
Meanwhile, ahead of the Delhi assembly's Budget Session which is set to commence on March 24, Atishi wrote to the speaker, demanding fair treatment for opposition MLAs, noting that opposition MLAs have been allegedly silenced.
She also criticised the decision to bar suspended MLAs, calling it "unprecedented in independent India." Additionally, she claimed that AAP MLAs were allotted only 14 per cent of the speaking time during discussions on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, while BJP MLAs were given 86 per cent. "The Speaker's role is not to serve the ruling party's interests but to safeguard the integrity of the legislative process," she wrote, demanding "equal treatment for opposition MLAs, fair allocation of speaking time, and an end to blatantly partisan actions."
