‘Drama, excuse’: CM Rekha Gupta addresses Delhi assembly, links AAP protest to CAG reports

Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta on Friday claimed the Aam Aadmi Party had been creating a ruckus inside the assembly because a CAG report flagged a loss of ₹2,000 crore to the national capital's exchequer under AAP's rule. "All this drama is just an excuse," she said.

21 AAP MLAs were suspended on Tuesday for disrupting Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena's inaugural address by raising slogans against the alleged removal of portraits of BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from Gupta's office in the Delhi assembly.

Attacking the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi assembly on Friday, Gupta vowed she wouldn't let even a single penny of the treasury go to waste.

"All this drama is just an excuse because they could not listen to the facts written in the CAG reports... I will not let even a single penny of the state treasury go to waste," she said.

The CAG report on the liquor policies under the previous AAP government was tabled by Gupta on Tuesday.

Also read: AAP-led Delhi govt ‘grossly mismanaged’ Covid funds: CAG report

"They were the people who collected tax from Delhi and used it for elections in other states... We are releasing all the CAG reports one by one, so they (AAP leaders) are rattled by it. They cannot dare sit in front of us in the house and listen to their deeds," Gupta said.

She said AAP MLAs needed an excuse to escape the house; hence, they picked the issue of Ambedkar's portrait.

"They just needed an excuse to get out of the house, so they picked up this issue of Babasaheb Ambedkar's portrait... the Narendra Modi government has ensured that Babasaheb Ambedkar gets his due respect, which no government could do," she added.

Also read: What CAG report on Delhi's liquor policies claims: 10 key takeaways

Another CAG report tabled

The Delhi government on Friday tabled another Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in the assembly. The report highlighted significant shortcomings in Delhi's healthcare infrastructure, including staff shortages, inadequate facilities, and poor management of healthcare services.

Rekha Gupta became the chief minister of Delhi earlier this month after the BJP won 48 of the national capital's 70 seats and formed a government after 27 years.

With inputs from ANI