NEW DELHI: The BJP bristled with indignation at the chaotic MCD special session on Wednesday, when AAP motions to hike the expense limit of the office of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) by Rs 3 lakh and transfer money from two funds were approved.
The opposition did not even demand the increase, the BJP complained. Claiming the AAP would not be winning the next mayorship, the BJP wondered why it still went ahead with the proposal.
The BJP’s accusation was that the AAP was aware it would hold the LoP’s office if it failed to win the next mayoral election and made available enough funds in anticipation of such an eventuality.
LoP Raja Iqbal Singh said: “They increased expenditure for the LoP office as they are aware of sitting in opposition starting this April. What was the reason for revising the expense when the current opposition party made no such demand?”
The special session, called for the Leader of the House (LoH) to finalise the MCD’s Budget, plunged into chaos after the AAP motion.
Another decision that irked the BJP councillors was the transfer of Rs 500 crore from the mayor’s discretionary expenses fund and Rs 300 crore from the improvement of roads fund to regularise daily wagers and contractual employees.
The AAP created the funds last year, but the money transfer drew sharp criticism from the opposition. The BJP leaders claimed that the previous AAP government had created such funds to make money through “illegal” ways.
On the transfer, Singh said, “They first deposited Rs 500 crore each in discretionary and road maintenance funds to make money through the back door. Now, when they are losing, they announce that they will divert the money to meet other expenses. After coming to power, the BJP will form a committee and recommend enquiry against such decisions.”
The twin decisions caused an uproar in the House, with heated exchanges between the AAP, BJP, and the Congress councillors. The BJP insisted that the AAP could not pass motions because it was in the minority; the latter said that they had the majority.
The House witnessed chaos soon after the session commenced. The concluding Budget speech of LoH Mukesh Goel was disrupted repeatedly by slogan-shouting opposition councillors. The BJP members even climbed the tables and tore copies of the Budget. The AAP members claimed the BJP wanted to create a constitutional crisis. Amid the ruckus, the mayor approved the finalisation of the Budget without Goel reading it and concluded the session.
Goel later alleged that the BJP wanted to derail the civic agency’s development. He said the AAP reduced the burden of MCD from Rs 16,000 crore to Rs 14,000 crore in two years and ensured that employees’ salaries were paid on time. Besides this, it made a budgetary provision of nearly Rs 1,000 crore for the next financial year for the regularisation of 12,000 employees.
Fund transfer move irks BJP
The AAP decision to transfer Rs 500 crore from the mayor’s discretionary expenses fund and `300 crore from improvement of roads fund have met with the strong BJP protest.