Four-day-long Assembly session ends

NEW DELHI: The four-day-long session of the Delhi Assembly ended on Friday amid heated arguments and the passage of three pieces of legislation, which were earlier returned by the Centre, even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal remained conspicuous by his absence.

The House proceedings went off to a stormy start on August 8, with AAP legislators and BJP MLAs sparring over what issue to take up: the Chandigarh stalking case involving a BJP leader's son or the death of three workers in Delhi while cleaning a sewer line.

The session also saw BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta, Manjinder Singh Sirsa and sacked Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra, being marshalled out.

Three Bills, the Minimum Wages (Delhi) Amendment Bill, the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Amendment Bill, and the NSIT Bill (amendment), were cleared by the House.

After being passed previously, these were returned by the Centre, at various points of time, citing procedural lapses.

Projects including the initiative to empower local-level committees 'mohalla sabhas' to spend government funds, the ambitious health-care initiative 'mohalla clinics' and the contentious issue of teacher recruitment sharply divided the ruling side and the Opposition.

The last day of the proceedings saw Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia lashing out at Gupta over his remarks on the death of two DTC employees and his demand that government pay Rs 1 crore compensation to the kin of each of the deceased. Sisodia accused Gupta of "indulging in politics over dead bodies".

Mundka MLA Sukhbir Singh Dalal, who is a relative of the deceased, alleged that Gupta tried to instigate BJP workers in the area to score political points.

Meanwhile, accusing the BJP and the Congress of cutting a deal on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain said he would meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and that the SIT probe into the riot cases be expedited.