Stormy session over report on government ad spending, Opposition walks out

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Assembly turned into a battleground on Wednesday as leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta demanded the tab ling of an alleged Comptroller and

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Assembly turned into a battleground on Wednesday as leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta demanded the tab ling of an alleged Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report “which exposes the wastage of public money” on advertisements.

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He demanded the House be dissolved over the Aam Aadmi Party government’s “unconstitutional act”.

The third day of the monsoon session had a 30-minute long disruption after which Gupta and MLA Jagdish Pradhan walked out of the House.

When Gupta demanded the tabling of the apex auditor’s report at the beginning of the session, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel asked him to raise the matter after Question Hour.

When Gupta raised the issue after Question Hour, the Speaker refused to grant him permission. This was followed by the disruption and the walkout.

“The government is trying to suppress the report because it’s severely indicts it for glaring irregularities. The report was submitted before commencement of the current Vidhan Sabha session. But it is objectionable that the government failed to take the House in confidence. The move of the government is unconstitutional and can invite legal action,” said Gupta.

He also said the government went to reach the target of population for which it had no responsibilities. “The report pointed out that out of the total expenditure of Rs 33.40 crore incurred on publicity campaigns, only Rs 4.69 crore pertain to Delhi’s publications and Rs 28.71 crore (85%) to other states/cities,” he added.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, however, denied it received any CAG report. “If their bosses have given some report to CAG, then he should table it here, we will discuss it,” said Sisodia.

Transport minister Satyendar Jain took strong objection to Gupta’s comment about dissolving the Assembly and said Gupta threatened the government. AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk Alka Lamba requested the Speaker to refer the matter to the Assembly’s privilege committee.

Gupta also had a heated argument with AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, who at one point, asked the officials to switch off the microphone at the BJP MLA’s desk. Gupta objected and asked why Khan was “behaving like the Speaker”.

Speaker Goel said Gupta did not raise the issue under the appropriate section. He said it was not a point of order as claimed by the BJP leader.