In what promises to be a characteristically stormy one, the Delhi Legislative Assembly session, scheduled to commence on Monday, will see the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rake up issues ranging from the expeditious installation of lakhs of CCTV cameras across the Capital and the numerically-challenged BJP opposition demanding a Bill to execute a National Register of Citizen-like (NRC) exercise in the city.
AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said the party’s legislators would also demand the operationalisation of the doorstep delivery of ration scheme and the immediate implementation of the recommendations of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi report to overcome waterlogging issues.
A discussion on issues related to stray dogs and monkeys, and how to partner with civic bodies to address these, is also on the agenda, for the five-day session which begins on August 6.
“The AAP hopes that bureaucrats belonging to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) who are a part of the Delhi government will provide answers to questions sought by the Members of the Legislative Assembly and the Speaker will not have to inform the House that they have shirked their duty in this regard,” Mr. Bharadwaj said at a press conference here.
“In addition to a discussion on the Private Member Resolution Bill, scheduled on Friday, there will also be a discussion on a resolution against deliberate attempts by members of the bureaucracy to defame the Delhi government through comments in the media and submissions made to the judiciary,” the Greater Kailash MLA said further.
Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly Vijender Gupta said a Bill on the NRC was a priority item for the opposition which would also attempt to highlight “scams and corruption” prevailing in the Delhi government.
“The demand for an NRC in the Capital will certainly be one of the priorities and we will also expose the government on the issue of corruption. The Delhi Jal Board, which is under the Chief Minister himself, has completely failed at it job of providing drinkable water to citizens; is that not a failure of Arvind Kejriwal himself?” Mr. Gupta demanded.
“As if other scams were not enough, a new scam related to the procurement of buses by favouring a particular private vendor being perpetrated by no less than Transport Minister himself is unfolding in the engagement of buses for DTC clusters; the opposition will not let this go unnoticed just like the issue of insults and misbehaviour being meted out to honest bureaucrats,” Mr. Gupta said further.
