Vijender Gupta elected Delhi Assembly Speaker; AAP calls BJP 'anti-Dalit, anti-Sikh'

The three-time BJP MLA was elected Speaker in the first session of the eighth Delhi Assembly.

New Delhi: The Delhi Assembly was adjourned for 15 minutes on Monday following Vijender Gupta's election as Speaker amid sloganeering from both the treasury and the opposition benches, with AAP members accusing the BJP of being "anti-Dalit and anti-Sikh".

Gupta, a three-time BJP MLA, was elected Speaker in the first session of the eighth Delhi Assembly.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Cabinet minister Ravinder Indraj moved two motions for his election that were seconded by ministers Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Parvesh Verma. The motions were passed by a voice vote.

Following the election, conducted by Protem Speaker Arvinder Singh Lovely, the chief minister and the opposition leader escorted the new Speaker to his chair.

Congratulating the new Speaker, Chief Minister Gupta said, "Your experience and knowledge will be valuable in the assembly. We will have the opportunity to speak and express our thoughts. You have struggled to reach this position but I hope such struggles do not happen in the future and you lead the House efficiently."

Leader of Opposition Atishi, while extending her best wishes to Gupta, expressed disappointment at the BJP.

"It is unfortunate the Delhi Assembly is being led by a party that is anti-Dalit and anti-Sikh. The BJP has removed photographs of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh from the chief minister's office, showing its anti-Dalit stance," she said.

Later, in a post in Hindi on X, she said, "The BJP has shown its true anti-Dalit and anti-Sikh face. Photographs of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh have been removed from the chief minister's office in the Delhi Legislative Assembly."

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said the move hurt millions of followers of Ambedkar.

"The new BJP government of Delhi removed Babasaheb's photograph and put up a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is not right. This has hurt millions of followers of Babasaheb," he said in a post on X.

"I have a request to the BJP. You can put up the prime minister's photograph but do not remove that of Babasaheb. Let it remain," he added.