Delhi assembly session today; 4 MLAs coronavirus-positive

The session will be conducted with all Covid-19 protocols, officials said, with the legislators being allowed to sit on a first-come-first serve basis and following strict social distancing norms and wearing face mask.

A day ahead of a one-day special session of the Delhi assembly, at least four MLAs had informed the Vidhan Sabha secretariat that they have tested positive for Covid-19. All legislators had been asked to mandatorily get tested for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) before attending the session on Monday and carry the report with them.

The session will have Covid-19 protocols in place (. ht archive)

The session will be conducted with all Covid-19 protocols, officials said, with the legislators being allowed to sit on a first-come-first serve basis and following strict social distancing norms and wearing face mask.

Assembly secretariat officials said the MLAs who have tested positive until Sunday evening were BJP MLA from Ghonda Ajay Mahawar and AAP MLAs from Wazirpur Rajesh Gupta, from Kirari Rituraj Jha and Surendra Kumar from Gokalpuri. Besides legislators, 214 officials, security personnel and support staff were also tested through the rapid antigen test, of which three tested positive. These include two Delhi Assembly officials and one Delhi Police assistant sub-inspector.

“Apart from these four, 29 MLAs had got RT-PCR tests done at the Delhi Assembly on Friday. While 22 legislators have tested negative, results of seven are awaited. Rest of the MLAs can either bring their Covid test reports on Monday or get a rapid antigen test done on the Assembly premises before the session begins,” a senior government official, said on condition of anonymity.

According to the list of business, the session will have no Question Hour. However, it will have a special mention session where a few MLAs selected by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel will be allowed to speak.

“Members (MLAs) have been requested to confine the text of the Special Mention to 8-10 lines only and not to deviate from the original text, while raising the same on the floor of the House. Any deviation will be disallowed and treated as summarily expunged from the proceedings. The matter should relate to only one department and raise only one issue,” Goel said.

In the remaining part of the session, various bills and order will be tabled for the approval of the House. These include the recent tariff order issued by the Delhi electricity regulatory commission (DERC) and the Delhi goods and services tax (amendment) bill, 2020.

While Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators are planning to talk about the ‘Delhi Model’ in Covid-19 management during the special mentions, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) MLAs said they would raise the issue of demolition of 48,000 slums along Delhi’s railway tracks.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, “If the Delhi government fails to rehabilitate the slum dwellers, then BJP will do it and rehabilitate them in the vacant flats. The BJP will vociferously raise the issue of 48,000 slum dwellers ordered to be removed from railway land during the Assembly session,” said Bidhuri.

This will be the second session of the assembly to be convened during the Covid-19 pandemic. Previously, a one-day session was held on March 23 to present the budget. But, there were no such precautionary measures being taken in that session except for members of the House being seated at a distance from one another.

The Speaker said visitors will not be allowed and the entry of media persons will be strictly on the basis of their Covid-19 negative report.

To maintain social distancing, additional extra chairs have been kept in the House. Usually, two MLAs sit on one bench, but now only one person will be allowed to sit on one bench, an Assembly official said.

“Seats have been reserved only for the ministers. So, the rest of the MLAs will have to take the seats on first-come-first-serve basis.”