Sahib seeks solace in House

NEW DELHI, September 24: The Delhi Assembly today rejected a no-confidence motion against the Sahib Singh Verma government. This is the l...

NEW DELHI, September 24: The Delhi Assembly today rejected a no-confidence motion against the Sahib Singh Verma government. This is the last session of the 70-member Delhi Assembly before it goes to poll after two months.

The motion moved by the Congress was rejected by 38 votes to six after a marathon seven-hour-long debate on the opening day of the monsoon session.

Closing the debate late at night, Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma said that his government has done a commendable job during the last five years. He said that the Capital8217;s problems will not be solved unless the inflow of outsiders8217; was checked 8212; a point that was reiterated by almost every BJP member of the Assembly, Moving the no-confidence motion, chief whip Deep Chand Bandhu said: 8220;For five years, Delhi has been living in hell: plagued by epidemics, water and power crises, price rise. It has betrayed the people of Delhi.8221; Earlier, leader of the Opposition Jag Pravesh Chandra said that the BJP government will be remembered for its mismanagement, misrule and non-governance.

8220;Delhi is power-less every afternoon or night. And the life for a Delhiite has, indeed, become a punishment. But the present government wants to use method of bogus voting to come back to power again,8221; Chandra said, in his short speech. The Chief Minister, however, robustly defended his government saying that governing Delhi was a very challenging job and that the problem of water, power, buses and schools are always going to be there. 8220;However much is provided, there will be always a need for more8221;.

The government was taunted by Congress member Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who said: 8220;In Delhi, electricity does not go. It comes once in a while. And the government has not been able generate a single megawatt additional power in the past years. Even the BJP8217;s Union Power Minister Kumaramangalam has said that the Delhi government is mismanaging the power distribution system. The DVB is a puppet in the hands of the mafia.8221; Verma commented that the Congress had introduced the motion because it was an 8220;issue-less8221; party. It was at the CM8217;s behest that Speaker Charti Ram Goel gave every member of the Assembly a chance to participate in the debate, which went on for hours.

The government faced flak on all fronts especially on the edible oil and onion shortage issues.