Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bansuri Swaraj and party MLA Satish Upadhyay during the unveiling of the statue of Bhagat Singh on the occasion of the Shaheed Diwas in Malviya Nagar on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Budget Session of the Delhi Assembly will commence on Monday (March 24, 2025) with the budget presentation by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who also holds the Finance portfolio, slated for Tuesday.

A general discussion on the budget will be held on March 26, with MLAs analysing financial allocations and policy initiatives. The Assembly will deliberate and vote on the proposed budget on March 27, said Speaker Vijender Gupta on Sunday.

As per the list of business for Monday, the House will debate on “water shortage, waterlogging, sewerage blockage, and desilting of drains in Delhi”.

Women aid scheme

The session, scheduled to be held till March 28, with provisions for an extension if required, is likely to be stormy. The Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is eager to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party government over failing to transfer ₹2,500 to women beneficiaries under the Mahila Samridhi Yojana on March 8 and provide free cylinders to poor families on Holi as promised in the run-up to the Assembly election. On the other hand, the treasury benches are likely to continue attacking AAP over the Comptroller and Auditor General reports tabled on various issues.

“Instead of implementing the promised [women’s aid] scheme, the BJP government has conveniently formed a three-member committee, a clear tactic to indefinitely shelve the scheme without any real intention of fulfilling its commitment,” AAP said in a statement.

“AAP will ensure that this betrayal is exposed in the Assembly and that the BJP is held accountable for misleading the people,” it added.

The Chief Minister had held pre-budget consultations with various stakeholders including women, youth, and slum dwellers, and called it a “people’s budget”.

On the budget, AAP said it had handed over a surplus budget to the BJP government but it failed to deliver even a single benefit to the people of Delhi so far.

‘Maintain decorum’

The Assembly Secretariat said the Speaker has issued directions to ensure decorum and efficiency during the session. Last month, in the first session of the newly formed Assembly, 21 of the 22 AAP members were suspended from the House for allegedly disrupting Lieutenant-Governor V.K Saxena’s address to the House.

‘Attack on democracy’

“The BJP has turned the Assembly into a dictatorship where Opposition members are suspended for raising people’s issues, while BJP members are protected despite their misconduct. This is not governance; this is an attack on democracy,” said Leader of the Opposition and AAP leader Atishi.

She said AAP will also raise the “systematic assault on democracy” by the BJP as AAP MLAs faced repeated interruptions and arbitrary suspensions, showing BJP’s sheer intolerance toward democratic debate. “A BJP MLA is allowed to speak for 40 minutes, while an AAP MLA’s voice is silenced in just four minutes,” she said.

The Speaker said March 28, the last day of the session, has been designated for Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions.