Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta, on Monday, condemned the boycott of House proceedings by the Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members on the first day of the budget session. "I strongly condemn the protest being carried out outside the House by the members of the Opposition and the Leader of the Opposition Atishi," the Assembly Speaker said in a statement.
"Boycotting the House and failing to participate in its proceedings is completely against the dignity of the House and Parliamentary decorum," Speaker Gupta said, after the AAP members stayed away from proceeding allegedly to demand the revocation of the suspension of their party's four MLAs during the last sitting of the House.
The Assembly Speaker said, "In a democratic system, the House is the very place where discussion and dialogue should occur, however, the Opposition's decision to distance itself from the Budget Session is deeply unfortunate." He added that at a time when the Delhi Budget is being presented, the participation and presence of the Opposition are of utmost importance.
"Protesting outside instead of engaging in discussion is contrary to established parliamentary traditions," he said. It is deeply regrettable that ever since the serious issue of the desecration of the Sikh Gurus was raised in the last Assembly session, the Leader of the Opposition (Atishi) has not attended the House and continues to remain absent," Assembly Speaker Gupta added.
"Failing to participate in the proceedings of the House and obstructing the democratic process in this manner is akin to hijacking Constitutional institutions," he said. "Today, several important reports have been tabled in the House, on which the Opposition should present its stand and participate in the discussions," he added.
"Especially when the Delhi Budget is being presented, the presence of the Opposition is mandatory and extremely vital," Assembly Speaker said. "Acting with insolence against parliamentary traditions and repeatedly showing contempt for the Chair is highly condemnable," he added.
Four AAP MLAs -- Sanjeev Jha, Kuldeep Kumar, Somdutt and Jarnail Singh -- were suspended for disrupting proceedings and disobeying the Chair's directions. In the 70-member Delhi Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party has 48 MLAs and the AAP has 22 legislators.