Proceedings of the Delhi Assembly were adjourned for the day on Tuesday after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators continued to raise slogans against the BJP for allegedly attempting to stop the implementation of a one-time settlement scheme for unpaid water bills in the Capital.
They also said Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena should act against the bureaucrats, who they claimed disobeyed the government orders and refused to implement the plan approved by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in June last year.
The House was first adjourned for half an hour but as the protest continued, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel adjourned the proceedings till 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
Later, the Leader of the Opposition, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, sought disciplinary action against them for using “abusive language” against him and the top BJP leadership.
Reacting to the allegations, Mr. Bidhuri said he met the Speaker in his chamber and registered his protest over the conduct of AAP MLAs.
He said the Speaker should act impartially and take action against the AAP legislators for disrupting the proceedings of the House as he cited the indefinite suspension of his party’s seven MLAs for just “expressing their views”.
The BJP MLAs were suspended as they interrupted the Lieutenant-Governor’s address to the Assembly multiple times on February 15, following which they approached the court against the decision.
Meanwhile, AAP senior leader Atishi said the L-G and the Centre have control over Delhi government officers and they are “not allowing” the scheme to be implemented as part of a “conspiracy”.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday told the Assembly that a “serious constitutional crisis” has arisen in the national capital as bureaucrats have refused to obey his government’s orders due to “threats and pressures” from the BJP.
The House also passed a resolution requesting the Centre-appointed L-G to get the officers to implement the scheme.
The Chief Minister said the problem stems from Delhi not enjoying full Statehood as the “real power” lies with the BJP-led Centre, which exercises control over Delhi government bureaucrats.
