A two-day session of the Delhi assembly, starting Wednesday, is expected to see discussion on the GNCTD (Amendment) Act 2023, notified last week. The House agenda does not list any specific matter, and only laying of papers related to the DERC are listed. According to sources, the amended Act as well as the suspension of MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha may be discussed during the session. The BJP, meanwhile, accused the AAP government of undermining democracy in the Assembly. Over the past three years, BJP legislators alleged they had been removed from Assembly proceedings 35 times in 16 sessions which revealed “a pattern of anti-democratic behaviour”. Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, along with the rest of the BJP’s seven legislators, alleged that the ruling AAP had stifled opposition voices by preventing discussions on notices raised by BJP MLAs. “Democracy is being strangled in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, with deliberate efforts to stifle debates. If a legislator is suspended for a session, they remain excluded from proceedings for years to avoid holding sessions,” Bidhuri alleged. Last week, a delegation from the BJP had called on Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena alleging that the Assembly was functioning “unconstitutionally” for the last three-and-a-half years. It also complained against the omission of question hour and sought the L-G’s intervention to “uphold the dignity” of the House.
