Leader of Opposition Atishi protest outside Assembly along with AAP MLAs (Express photo by Amit Mehra)Delhi Assembly Session Highlights: Ahead of the Assembly session, AAP MLA and former Chief Minister Atishi alleged that her party MLAs are not being allowed to enter the House. In a post on X, Atishi wrote, “The BJP people crossed the limits of dictatorship after coming to power. Aam Aadmi Party MLAs were suspended from the House for three days for raising slogans of ‘Jai Bhim’…This has never happened in the history of Delhi Legislative Assembly that elected MLAs are not being allowed to enter the Assembly premises.”
Row over photos of Dr Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh: A political slugfest is ongoing between the BJP and the AAP as Leader of Opposition Atishi protested against the removal of photos of Dr B R Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from CM’s office. Meanwhile, BJP MLA Satish Upadhyay accused the AAP of neglecting the condition of the statue of Shaheed Bhagat Singh at a park in Malviya Nagar. Upadhyay claimed that the statue had been broken for the past three years but no action was taken by former AAP MLA Somnath Bharti.
On the third day of Delhi Assembly session, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta will propose the name of BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht for the post of deputy speaker. Two separate motions – one by CM Gupta and another by MLA Anil Kumar Sharma, backed by Gajender Singh Yadav, will be moved to elect Bisht to the post. There are no other contenders in the fray for the post. Bisht, a six-time MLA and senior BJP leader, won the Mustafabad assembly seat in the February 5 Delhi polls. He defeated AAP’s Adeel Ahmad Khan by over 17,000 votes.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta Thursday directed the Vidhan Sabha secretary to file a report on the actions taken on the CAG reports within a month. Meanwhile, the PAC committee will be formed soon and has been asked to submit its report in 3 months.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has also moved a proposal to elect Mohan Singh Bisht as deputy speaker of the house.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on Delhi University's plea challenging CIC order directing disclosure of information with respect to the bachelor's degree of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Arguments heard. Judgement reserved," said Justice Sachin Datta after hearing the parties. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for DU, said the order of the CIC deserved to be set aside. Mehta however said DU had no objection in showing the record to the court.
"University has no objection in showing the record to the court. There is a degree from 1978, bachelor of art," Mehta said.
Following an RTI application by one Neeraj, the Central Information Commission (CIC) on December 21, 2016, allowed inspection of records of all students who cleared the BA exam in 1978 -- the year Prime Minister Modi also passed it. (PTI)
Delhi PWD minister Parvesh Verma on Thursday said that a probe will be conducted into why CCTV cameras were not installed in eight constituencies represented by BJP MLAs during the previous AAP government.
Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Verma said CCTV cameras will be installed on priority in the eight constituencies. BJP had eight seats and the AAP had 62 seats in the last assembly.
Raising the issue in the House, BJP's Vishwas Nagar MLA OP Sharma said not even one CCTV camera was installed in his constituency during previous AAP government. He demanded a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) probe in the matter. Some other BJP MLAs who were in the opposition in previous assembly also raised the matter, alleging "stepmotherly" treatment by then AAP government.
PTI
Najafgarh MLA Neelam Pehalwan has moved a proposal in the House to rename the constituency's name to Nahargarh.
Delhi Minister Parvesh Verma said a probe will be initiated into the "Sheesh Mahal" controversy to determine how much government money was used in renovating the official residence of former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Verma told PTI, "The lavish Chief Minister's office, built three years ago under the AAP government, will be investigated to determine how much money was spent on its reconstruction and on what basis officials granted permission for such expenses."
"The Chief Minister's residence at 6 Flagstaff Road, dubbed 'Sheesh Mahal' by the BJP, will also be examined to assess how much money the previous government allocated for its renovation," Verma said.
AAP leaders stage a protest alleging that they are not being allowed to enter the Vidhan Sabha premises. The party MLAs raise slogan: "taanashahi nahi chalegi", "hitler shahi nahi chalegi".
Ahead of the Assembly session, AAP MLA and former Chief Minister Atishi alleged that her party MLAs are not being allowed to enter the House. In a post on X, Atishi wrote, “The BJP people crossed the limits of dictatorship after coming to power. Aam Aadmi Party MLAs were suspended from the House for three days for raising slogans of ‘Jai Bhim’. And today "AAP" MLAs are not even being allowed to enter the Vidhan Sabha premises. This has never happened in the history of Delhi Legislative Assembly that elected MLAs are not being allowed to enter the Assembly premises.”
On the third day of Delhi Assembly session, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta will propose the name of BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht for the post of deputy speaker. Two separate motions – one by CM Gupta and another by MLA Anil Kumar Sharma, backed by Gajender Singh Yadav, will be moved to elect Bisht to the post. There are no other contenders in the fray for the post. Bisht, a six-time MLA and senior BJP leader, won the Mustafabad assembly seat in the February 5 Delhi polls. He defeated AAP’s Adeel Ahmad Khan by over 17,000 votes.
The Aam Aadmi Party Wednesday said it would continue with its protest against the removal of Bhimrao Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh's portraits from the chief minister's office after the BJP came to power in Delhi. In a joint press conference with AAP MLA Sanjiv Jha, his party colleague Kuldeep Kumar claimed his party's legislators were suspended from the assembly for raising the "Jai Bheem" slogan.
"The BJP MLAs were chanting 'Modi-Modi' but it was AAP MLAs who were suspended from the House for raising 'Jai Bheem' slogan," he said. Jha said the "removal" of the portraits from the chief minister's office will not be tolerated and AAP will continue to protest against it. He demanded that the portraits of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh be displayed as it was done when AAP was in power.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta Tuesday suspended 21 AAP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Atishi, for three days for disrupting Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena's inaugural address to the newly constituted House.
-PTI
Police will probe the cause of the fire at Select City Mall in Delhi's Saket.
Initially, it appears that the screen in auditorium 3 at the mall caught fire due to a short circuit.
No casualties have been reported so far.
A small fire broke out at Select City Mall in Delhi's Saket area. Six fire tenders were rushed to the spot.
The fire was reported at the screen of Audi-3. Authorities said that no casualties have been reported.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta will propose the name of BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht for the post of deputy speaker of the Delhi Assembly on February 27, the third day of the session. With no other contenders in the fray for the post. According to the list of business provided by the Delhi Assembly Speaker's office, two separate motions will be moved to elect Bisht to the post.
The first motion will be moved by CM Gupta and seconded by Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa while the second motion will be proposed by MLA Anil Kumar Sharma and backed by Gajender Singh Yadav. Bisht, a six-time MLA and veteran BJP leader, won the Mustafabad assembly seat in the February 5 Delhi polls. He defeated AAP's Adeel Ahmad Khan by over 17,000 votes.
-PTI
The government has spent more than Rs 400 crore to contest court cases during the past 10 years, official data showed. The central government's Rs 66 crore expenditure on litigations in the 2023-24 financial year was over Rs 9 crore higher than the previous fiscal.
The amount incurred on litigations has gone up since 2014-15, barring two fiscals when the Covid pandemic was at its peak, according to data shared by the government with the Lok Sabha in response to a question in the ongoing Budget session. In 2014-15, the cost incurred on litigations stood at Rs 26.64 crore while the expenditure for 2015-16 was Rs 37.43 crore.
Between the 2014-15 and the 2023-24 financial years, the government spent more than Rs 409 crore on litigations. Separately, the law ministry had earlier this month told the Rajya Sabha that the central government is a party in nearly seven lakh cases pending across courts, with the Finance Ministry alone being one of the litigants in nearly two lakh cases. Citing data available on Legal Information Management & Briefing System (LIMBS), Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, "There are about seven lakh cases pending where the Government of India is a party. Out of these, in about 1.9 lakh cases the Ministry of Finance is mentioned as a party."
The government is working on a national litigation policy that seeks to expedite the resolution of pending cases. A draft of the proposed policy will go before the Union Cabinet for a final call. The policy has been drafted and redrafted for several years, with successive governments deliberating on its contours.
Delhi Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit has called for a broader investigation into the alleged liquor scam linked to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
Dikshit claimed that the Kejriwal government's revenue has suffered a loss of Rs 2,000 crores due to the policy, funds that could have been used for the benefit of the common people.
"Aam Aadmi Party's claims of increasing revenue have been exposed. Revenue has suffered a loss of 2000 crores. This could have helped the common people," Dikshit said.
AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar addressed the recent ruckus in the Delhi Assembly, clarifying the party's stance regarding the installation of portraits.
Kakkar said, "We have never said that PM Narendra Modi's portrait should not be installed, but at the same time, Babasaheb Ambedkar, who wrote the constitution and gave us all the rights we enjoy today, and Shaheed Bhagat Singh cannot be ignored. Their portraits should not have been removed to install President and Prime Minister's portraits."
Amid the row over tabling CAG reports in the Delhi Assembly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee said that the real face of AAP is being revealed now and soon Arvind Kejriwal will be punished.
"The real face of AAP is being revealed now. Tripura was also a leftist state. After a long time, there was a change here when the BJP government was formed. We have struggled with the leftists. AAP is a leftist party, they do not say, but their way of working shows that they have good relations and connections with the leftists. What has emerged in the CAG report is a fraud of Rs 2026 crore, this needs to be answered. How is it possible that the CAG report has not been submitted in the last 10 years?" the BJP spokesperson told ANI.
Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra said, "As more and more (CAG) reports come out, they have run away from Vidhan Sabha, soon they will flee away from Delhi too. Arvind Kejriwal cannot face the truth mentioned in the CAG report, which states that during Covid period, he received Rs 2,000 crore as commission from liquor. When there was need of medicines and oxygen in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia were busy in corruption in liquor policy..."
The IMD has forecast light rain or drizzle towards night. Thunderstorm with rain is also expected in the capital for the next two days. Both maximum and minimum temperatures have been on the rise, with the minimum touching 15 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, which is three notches above season's normal.
AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal acted as a "middleman for the liquor lobby", Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged on Tuesday after a CAG report tabled in the Assembly said there was a cumulative loss of over Rs 2,000 crore due to the 2021-2022 excise policy.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta also hit out at AAP, saying the CAG report has brought to the fore the extent of loot of the government treasury.
"The extent of loot of the government treasury due to the scam in the name of liquor policy has become clear from the CAG report. At the same time, it has also become clear that the previous government had completely failed to protect the interests of the public," she said in a post in Hindi on X. (PTI)
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