Delhi Assembly functioned for 13 hours, passed 4 key Bills during Monsoon Session: Speaker

The three-day Monsoon Session of the Delhi Assembly transacted business for over 13 hours during which four Bills were passed, Speaker Vijender Gupta said on Wednesday.

He also criticised the “irresponsible attitude” of the opposition MLAs during the session, which began on August 7 and concluded on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, Gupta said the House functioned for a total of 13.19 hours, in which two CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) reports were tabled, and 52 public interest issues were raised under Rule 280.

Pointing to the absence of Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi in the House, he said it was for the first time that a leader of opposition had remained absent through the entire session.

Agreements and disagreements happen, but not attending the session was unfortunate, he said.

“AAP seems to have become leaderless. I even asked the opposition members to depute someone else from among themselves to function as the leader of opposition in Atishi’s absence, but nothing happened,” the Speaker said.

The Assembly passed four Bills, which concerned the interests of the public, but the opposition members did not register their opinion during the discussions. Their participation in discussions over the Bills was negligible, he claimed.

“The opposition made efforts to turn the House into a political arena. They resorted to unruly behaviour inside the House and outside on many occasions,” Gupta alleged.