The Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday elected Badarpur MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri as the leader of the eight-member Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, hours before its inaugural three-day session here.
Mr. Bidhuri, who was first elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly in 1993 on a Janata Dal ticket, , according to the BJP, was elected the Leader of Opposition (LOP) unanimously after his name was proposed for the post by outgoing LoP, Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta.
Elected from Badarpur with a margin of around 4,000 votes in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly elections, this will be the 67-year-old’s fourth term as legislator.
“I would like to recall 1993, when both you and I became members of this August House for the first time,” Mr. Bidhuri said in his address to the Assembly while directly conversing with Speaker Ram Niwas Goel.
“I did not have the numbers... I was just one of four Janata Dal MLAs and you were a member of the then ruling party [BJP]... But the then Speaker, Mr. Charti Lal Goel, allowed me to lead a discussion on the issue of water. I hope the same concessions will be made by you for us, the Opposition MLAs, if the issue is worth the time,” he said further.
Speaking after the conclusion of the day’s proceedings, Mr. Bidhuri said the eight-member BJP Opposition would seek a detailed discussion on the “definition of a world-class city” with their colleagues from the ruling AAP, on a priority basis.
“We want a detailed discussion on the past and future promises made by AAP to the people of Delhi and especially seek to define the ‘world-class city’ which they claim they want to transform Delhi into,” Mr. Bidhuri said.
Sources close to the LoP claimed the party would also seek to ensure the election of an Opposition legislator as Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly in the spirit of Cooperative Federalism of which, they said, Mr. Goel had assured the House during his first address after being re-elected as the Speaker.
When asked for comment on clashes between pro and anti-CAA protesters at Jaffrabad, Mr. Bidhuri said, “Whatever is happening in Jaffrabad is indeed troubling and very sad. But we cannot also rule out the possibility of this being done only to ensure that India’s image on the international stage is dented what with the U.S. President and the First Lady scheduled to visit Delhi tomorrow.”
