Gupta refuses allotted room for Opp. leader

‘ AAP playing with farmer sentiments’

New Delhi, May 4: Accusing the AAP government of throwing “rules to the wind”, senior BJP leader Vijender Gupta has refused to accept the room alloted to him in his position as the Delhi Assembly Leader of the Opposition citing space constraints.

“The government is trying to suppress the Opposition through its unjust and callous behaviour resulting in discrimination which would not be tolerated,” Mr Gupta said.

Asserting that he refused to accept the newly- allotted room to protest against the “injustice” to the Opposition, Mr Gupta said, “On one hand, the rooms for 21 parliamentary secretaries, AAP members of DDA and various committees are being prepared; the BJP MLAs who have been nominated to DDA or are chairman of different committees are being denied rooms. This discrimination will not be tolerated at all.”

Mr Gupta has requested Speaker Ram Niwas Goel to review the decision with regard to allotment of the room and has stressed that he be extended the same facilities accorded to a minister as per tradition.

“Room No. 29 has adequate infrastructure for performing the important function of Leader of Opposition. But the office of the present Speaker, Ram Niwas Goel, arbitrarily issued orders regarding allotment of room no 33 that neither has space nor facilities,” he said. As a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s mass connecting programme, the party leadership on Monday began its 24- hour “Gramin Pravas Yatra” in the Delhi villages assessing the damage to the crops due to untimely rain.

Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay began the yatra from Khera Kalan Village addressing corner meetings in villages Bakhtawarpur, Palla, Hamid pur, Narela, Bank ner, Ghogha, Dariyapur, Qutubgarh, Punjab Khor, Gram Mazra, Begam pur, and stayed at Tig gi pur village.

Taking a stock damaged farms and crops, Mr Upadhyay addressed the farmers and said, “Now, I am of the view that the farmers have suffered about 50 per cent loss of their crops and it is very regrettable that the Delhi government is only playing with the sentiments of the farmers in place of paying compensation.

He attacked the Delhi government for “announcing the slab system for compensation” which “has played with the sentiments of the people”.