NEW DELHI: Several suspended AAP MLAs continued their protest outside the Delhi legislative Assembly on the third day of the Budget session on Wednesday.
A day after training the guns on the Rekha Gupta government over the recent Palam fire tragedy, the suspended legislators on Wednesday seized the cooking gas cylinder crunch to shred the BJP government.Carrying pamphlets bemoaning the gas crisis, the MLAs held a padyatra and raised loud slogans against the Centre.
Assembly LoP and former CM Atishi, who was at the forefront of the demonstration, rued, “The entire country is bearing the impact of the crisis. People across Delhi and beyond have been forced to wait in long queues for gas cylinders.
Dredging up promises earlier made by the BJP in the House, Atishi said, “In this very Assembly, the BJP had pledged free cylinders on Holi and Diwali. And now they are making the cylinders disappear so that everything appears free. When cylinders are not available at all, everything automatically becomes free.”
“People are no longer spending on cylinders because they are buying induction stoves and wood, she said, noting, “Even at weddings, cylinders have become free. The BJP will make electricity and water free in the same way, because everything will stop being available. She also drew fire from the Palam incident, saying, “The BJP does not know how to run a government. Despite a budget of Rs 1 lakh crore, CM Rekha Gupta could not provide even a single ladder to the fire department.”
Pointing to everyday hardships in Delhi, Atishi expressed, “Today, Delhiites are troubled by the BJP. A common family needs electricity, but there are power cuts. They need water, but the water being supplied is dirty. Roads are broken, the police is unable to provide security, and medicines are not available in hospitals.
Even for cooking gas cylinders, people have to stand in queues. The BJP government has completely failed. And because of this failure, it does not want to allow our MLAs to enter the Assembly. They are afraid that if our legislators enter the House and raise their voices, the ruling party’s reality will be exposed. But we will continue to expose BJP on the streets of Delhi.”
Asserting that AAP’s voice will not be silenced, Atishi said, “I want to tell BJP leaders who think they silence us: We are AAP MLAs. We are soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal. Inside the House and on the streets, we will continue to raise our voice for the rights of Delhi residents. They may have put our leaders in jail, but they could never scare or silence us.”
LoP slams promises by BJP
Noting earlier made by the BJP, Atishi said, “In this very Assembly, the BJP had pledged free cylinders on Holi and Diwali. And now they are making the cylinders disappear so it appears free.”
Motion presented by Sirsa
Cabinet Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa had presented the condemnation motion, referred to the reported suicide of the general manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation.