DELHI

Extended assembly session highlights: Stinging CAG report, criticism of Lt Guv

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The Budget session of the Delhi assembly, which began on March 16 and was originally scheduled to go on till March 28, saw four extensions, the last being on April 9, for a day.

This made the session, which finally culminated on Tuesday, the longest that the Vidhan Sabha has seen in the last 23 years.

The extensions were utilised to attack Lt Governor Anil Baijal, with a white paper brought out by the Kejriwal regime to highlight what it claims is an obstructive attitude displayed by Raj Niwas when it comes to clearing the proposals of the Delhi government. Baijal was also accused of being in agreement with the non-cooperation of bureaucrats in Delhi, and not taking steps to get the officers to bring the situation back to normal. Officers in Delhi have been in protest mode ever since Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly beaten up by AAP MLAs at the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

During the extension, there was a discussion on the stand-off between the ministers and the bureaucrats, and AAP MLAs criticised the officers for not answering the questions they had asked during the session.

Another highlight of the extra time that the session ran was the tabling of the CAG report on the functioning of various departments of the Delhi government. The irregularities pointed out by the CAG in the transportation of foodgrains under PDS raised doubts about largescale corruption akin to the fodder scam of Bihar.

The AAP leadership feels that a number of important issues were discussed at length due to the Budget session getting extended, and the government could make a comprehensive criticism of the functioning of the Lt Governor. However, the MLAs had begun complaining about not being able to go to their constituencies.

An MLA revealed that AAP legislators did urge the leadership to not announce any further extensions of the session. “A certain amount of fatigue set in amongst the MLAs because of the extensions. We conveyed to the leadership that we have adequately raised issues of importance during the session, and we need to get down to work now,” said an AAP MLA.

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