The Delhi Assembly on Wednesday witnessed a heated debate, with the treasury benches highlighting the city government’s plans for economic development in its Budget for 2025-26, while the Opposition called its revenue estimates “unrealistic”.
As soon as the Question Hour started on Wednesday, Leader of Opposition Atishi raised questions related to development in slum areas. Atishi’s criticism on the floor of the House irked Education Minister Ashish Sood and both the leaders exchanged sharp words. When Atishi’s name was called to read her question, she was not present in the House. She came later in the House following which she was given opportunity to raise her issue listed for the Question Hour.
The LoP raised the issue of cleanliness of toilets in many areas of the city especially in slum and JJ clusters. She said that in its maiden budget, the government has made a provision of Rs 700 Crore for developments works in slum areas but the reality is that the slum dwellers in the city are living in a worse condition and even there is no cleanliness of toilets run by the government agencies.
The House witnessed uproar after Atishi’s statement as MLAs from both sides made allegations against each other.
Education Minister Ashish Sood reacted over Atishi’s statement saying that when AAP was in power, DUSIB’s budget was passed around 11:40 in the night on March 31 and it shows how much serious you were for slum people across the national capital. “You wanted to corner the government for budget announcement but you were not present on time. Your tension is that how the newly formed government has presented a budget with more outlay than your government’s budget in just 33 days. The slum dwellers of Delhi shown you people the exit door and you people are feeling uneasy,” the Minister said.
During a discussion on the budget, PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh slammed AAP over its financial performance. “Those who made claims (about providing) world-class health (services) spent Rs 2,100 Crore lower than planned. Those who boasted about an education model revised their estimates to Rs 16,711 Crore but spent only Rs 13,987 Crore. This is the reality of AAP’s big claims,” he said.
AAP, now in Opposition after governing Delhi for a decade, slammed the budget and said its revenue estimates were “unrealistic”. “The budget is full of baseless numbers. By the end of the financial year, we will see this Rs 1 Lakh Crore budget falling short,” said AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha.
AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar questioned the BJP over its poll promises and asked, “Where is the Rs 2,500 for women? Where are the free gas cylinders for Holi? The festival has passed but the promises remain unfulfilled.”
