Sub-inspector Ramesh Kumar takes up his position, just a few steps away from the heavy gates, at 8 a.m. everyday. He is expected to check any unauthorised movement into the Delhi Vidhan Sabha but over the last eight months there hasn’t been anything out of the ordinary.
Apart from staffers, gardeners, daily wagers and some stray dogs, visitors have been few and far between.
A day before Delhi decides on the 70 men and women it will send to this handsome building on Alipur Road curving gracefully like a half moon, Mr. Kumar sits opposite room number 29 — the one allotted for the Leader of Opposition.
A year ago, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Harsh Vardhan used to be behind the large desk in this room interacting with colleagues, giving sharp responses to journalists on statements made by the then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The desk now stands wiped clean and the room is vacant barring pictures of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Syama Prasad Mookerjee and K.B. Hedgewar. .
A few steps away, workmen climb a long ladder to scrape away plaster from the walls and apply a fresh coat of paint.Another worker was bent over a lamp wiping the dust off the glass.
The white ‘Old Secretariat’ building, which has been the seat of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha since December 1993, was quiet. There were no legislators huddled in groups sharing a joke or the shrill sound of a bell alerting them that they were expected back in the House.“The last year has been a bit relaxed,” admits Sarita Misra, who works in the legislative branch of the Assembly. She and her colleagues were taking a post-lunch walk around the large premises past the potted flowers and under the winter sun. “Next week will be busy though. We will have to prepare the materials for the oath taking ceremony and collate information on all 70 legislators to be compiled into a ‘who is who’ booklet that will be circulated,” she says, assuming that a political party will reach the simple majority.
