The three-day Monsoon Session of the Delhi Assembly, which began on August 7 and concluded on Tuesday, transacted business for over 13 hours, during which four Bills were passed, Speaker Vijender Gupta said on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference, Gupta said the House functioned for a total of 13.19 hours, during which two CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) reports were tabled, and 52 public interest issues were raised under Rule 280.
It is worth mentioning that, under Rule 280 of the Rules of Procedure of the Delhi Assembly, a member who wishes to raise a matter, which is not a point of order, has to give notice to the Assembly Secretary in writing. This device is popularly known as ‘Special Mention’.
The Speaker also criticised opposition MLAs for what he described as an “irresponsible attitude” during the session. Referring to the absence of Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi from the House, he said it was the first time that a Leader of the Opposition had remained absent for the entire session.
Agreements and disagreements happen, but not attending the session was unfortunate, he said.
“AAP seems to have become leaderless. I even asked the opposition members to depute someone else from among themselves to function as the leader of opposition in Atishi’s absence, but nothing happened,” the Speaker said.
The Assembly passed four Bills, which concerned the interests of the public, but the opposition members did not register their opinion during the discussions. Their participation in discussions over the Bills was negligible, he claimed.
“The opposition made efforts to turn the House into a political arena. They resorted to unruly behaviour inside the House and outside on many occasions,” Gupta alleged.
-(with inputs from PTI)
