Delhi speaker expels 12 AAP MLAs for day from House for raising slogans during L-G’s address

Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta expelled 12 AAP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Atishi, from the House for the day for raising slogans during Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s address on Tuesday.

Among the AAP leaders expelled were Atishi, Gopal Rai, Veer Singh Dhingan, Mukesh Ahlawat, Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed, Anil Jha, Vishesh Ravi and Jarnail Singh.

Also read: Delhi court to decide on AAP Amanatullah Khan’s pre-arrest bail plea tomorrow

Atishi alleged that the BJP had disrespected BR Ambedkar by removing his portrait from the chief minister’s office.

“The BJP has shown its true colours by removing Babasaheb Ambedkar’s portrait. Does it believe Modi can replace Babasaheb?” she said at a press conference.

She alleged that the BJP-led administration had removed Ambedkar’s portraits from the chief minister’s office in both the Delhi Secretariat and the assembly.

Also read: CAG reports on AAP government’s tenure to be tabled in Delhi Assembly on Feb 25

Meanwhile, the BJP-led Delhi government is set to table 14 pending Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reports on the previous AAP government’s performance in the Delhi Assembly today.

According to the BJP MLAs, the reports will be presented on the second day of the first session of the newly constituted eighth Delhi Assembly.

The BJP has been alleging that the reports were withheld by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) administration.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had announced last Thursday that the reports would be made public in the first session under the new government. The pending CAG audits include reviews of state finances, public health infrastructure, vehicular air pollution, liquor regulation and the functioning of the Delhi Transport Corporation, among others.

The BJP had repeatedly demanded the release of these reports during the AAP’s tenure, even moving the court to direct the government to table them. The saffron party had accused the AAP government of deliberately stalling the audits to hide alleged corruption. The issue was a major point of contention during the assembly elections, with the BJP highlighting the delay as an attempt to suppress findings of financial mismanagement.