Blame game in assembly over sealing drive in Delhi

new delhi — The three-day Delhi Assembly session started on a stormy note on Monday as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members blamed each other for the sealing drive, forcing the Speaker to order four adjournments and marshalling out of two BJP MLAs.

The sealing drive is being carried out by a Supreme Courtappointed Monitoring Committee against business establishments using residential properties for commercial purposes, and it is being implemented by the three BJP-led Municipal Corporations.

The AAP MLAs alleged that businessmen were being “harassed” by the corporations and that there was “huge corruption” involved in the process.

Holding banners that read “anti-business BJP” and “BJP came, brought back sealing”, AAP MLAs protested in the well of the house and raised slogans against the opposition party.

After multiple adjournments, when Speaker Ram Niwas Goel allowed discussion on the issue, BJP MLAs demanded a separate discussion on 351 roads which are to be notified under commercial and mixed-use categories, so that businesses on these stretches were saved from the sealing drive.

BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta told the media outside the Assembly alleged that the AAP was sitting on files related to notification of roads and held out a poster “AAP, stop drama on sealing drive and notify 351 roads”.

AAP MLA Alka Lamba alleged in the house that the BJP has been collecting conversion charges for the past 10 years but was not issuing receipts to traders. “There is corruption of the tune of Rs1,000 crore in the collection of conversion charges,” she said.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Commissioners of the three municipal corporations should be called to the Assembly on Wednesday and asked to give details of the conversion charges collected over 12 years. Public Works Department Minister Satyendar Jain had earlier alleged that the changing the status of these 351 roads was pending for “11 years” due to laxity to the municipal corporations. —