Stormy start to first Delhi Assembly session: AAP-BJP spar over Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh portraits at CM office

The House proceedings, however, turned stormy with protests and sloganeering from both sides after Leader of Opposition (LoP) Atishi accused the BJP of being “anti-Dalit” and “anti-Sikh” for removing the portraits of Dr BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from the CM’s office. CM Rekha Gupta denied the claims and said the AAP is trying to hide its corruption.

Before the session began, BJP MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely was sworn in as the Pro-tem Speaker and administered the oath by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena at Raj Niwas. He then oversaw the swearing-in of all 70 newly elected MLAs including Chief Minister Gupta and Ministers Parvesh Sahib Singh, Kapil Mishra, Dr Pankaj Singh, Ravinder Singh Indraj, Ashish Sood and Manjinder Singh Sirsa.

Following this, the CM and Social Welfare Minister Ravinder Singh moved two motions to elect Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta as the Speaker of the House. The motion was seconded by Sirsa and Parvesh Singh and was then passed by a voice note.

Gupta, a three-time BJP MLA, was the former Leader of Opposition in the House. After his election, he was escorted to his chair by the pro-tem Speaker, CM and LoP.

Congratulating Gupta, the CM said, “You have been an MLA three times; your experience and knowledge will help this Assembly. Under you, all members will get the opportunity to speak and express their thoughts. You have struggled a lot to reach this place and I hope this does not happen in the future and you lead the House efficiently.”

Atishi extended her wishes and said, “It is very sad to see that the Delhi Assembly is now being led by a party that is anti-Dalit and anti-Sikh. Soon after forming the government, the BJP removed the portraits of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh from the CM’s office.”

AAP MLAs then began protesting, while BJP MLAs started raising slogans of “Bharat mata ki jai”. The house was adjourned first for 15 minutes and then till 11 am on Tuesday.

Outside the House, sharing a copy of photos of the office when she was the CM, Atishi told the media: “The BJP’s anti-Dalit and anti-Sikh mindset is well known. Everyone knows that the BJP is a party that has always been against Dalits. Today, they have openly demonstrated their prejudice before the entire nation.”

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal also criticised the BJP and said in a post on X, “The new BJP government in Delhi has removed Babasaheb’s portrait and replaced it with Prime Minister Modi’s. This is not right. It has hurt the sentiments of crores of Babasaheb’s followers. I request the BJP — put up the Prime Minister’s photo if you wish, but don’t remove Babasaheb’s. Let his photo remain.”

When Kejriwal was the CM, in 2022, he directed all government offices to remove the pictures of political leaders and display portraits of only Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh.

CM Gupta refuted the allegations. “This is nothing but a tactic… you can see the pictures of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Baba Saheb Ambedkar ji. Should the photographs of the head of a government should not be there? Should the photographs of the country’s president not be there? Should we not put pictures of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi? This is the room of the CM and as a head of government, we have given space for them. Bhagat Singh ji, Baba Saheb Ambedkar ji are respected and have been a guide for us.”

She also said, “I don’t have to answer to these people, I am here for the public and will answer to them.”

The party later shared a picture of the CM’s office saying, “The pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, the President and Prime Minister are adorned in the room of the CM.”

BJP MLAs also lashed out at AAP, saying it is trying to mislead the people by diverting attention from the CAG reports that will be tabled in the House on Tuesday. “They are just doing drama to distract the people and divert the attention from CAG reports which will highlight their scams…,” said Sirsa.

Ravinder Singh said, “Several of their leaders went to jail on corruption charges… These people are scared of the CAG reports as they will have to face the consequences from the public.”

On Tuesday, the BJP government will table the 14 pending CAG reports in the House.