Delhi Speaker expels Atishi, 11 AAP MLAs over ruckus as BJP Govt tables CAG reports

Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Tuesday expelled 12 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Atishi and Gopal Rai, for raising slogans during Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s address. Other expelled MLAs include Veer Singh Dhingan, Mukesh Ahlawat, Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed, Anil Jha, Vishesh Ravi, and Jarnail Singh. The expulsion came on the first day of the Delhi Legislative Assembly session, which saw protests from AAP leaders.

Atishi alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had removed BR Ambedkar’s portrait from the chief minister’s office, calling it an act of disrespect. “The BJP has shown its true colours by removing Babasaheb Ambedkar’s portrait. Does it believe Modi can replace Babasaheb?” Atishi said at a press conference. The former chief minister claimed that Ambedkar’s portraits were removed from both the Delhi Secretariat and the assembly.

Meanwhile, the BJP-led Delhi government, under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, will present 14 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports in the assembly. The reports are expected to highlight financial irregularities during the AAP government’s tenure. BJP leaders have accused the previous administration of hiding these reports. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva stated, “We had promised the people of Delhi during the elections that whoever has committed corruption will have to answer.”

Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, “Today, the CAG report, which exposed the scams of Arvind Kejriwal’s government, will be tabled in the Delhi Assembly. Arvind Kejriwal had kept it hidden for the last 3 years.” Another Delhi minister, Ravinder Indraj Singh, claimed, “The result of the 'AAP-da' government has been disastrous. All its ministers were jailed. A CAG report of all their ministries will be presented.”

Following the Lieutenant Governor’s address, the floor will be opened for a motion of thanks, with discussions set to begin at 11 AM on February 26. The election of the Deputy Speaker will also take place that day. The session is expected to see strong confrontations between the ruling BJP and opposition AAP over the contents of the CAG reports.