A day after Vidhan Sabha speaker Yoganand Shastri directed all House members to be present during discussions pertaining to their respective departments, the Delhi Assembly had to be adjourned for 30 minutes as the dismal attendance of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the session failed to fulfill the quorum of the House.

While the session was scheduled to begin at 2 pm on Friday, only 17 members of the ruling party and three of the Opposition were present, falling short of three MLAs to complete the quorum of 23 members required to begin the proceedings of the House.

After the Opposition had staged a walkout on Thursday, irked by the absence of Cabinet ministers during the Special Mention session to discuss power and water shortages in the city, the BJP reportedly sent fewer MLAs to the House today as a mark of protest.

Among the Cabinet ministers absent from the House today were CM Sheila Dikshit and Food and Supplies Minister Haroon Yusuf. Education and Transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely walked in almost an hour after the House proceedings had begun.

Other proposals floated
MLAs have asked for extending the facility of using car flashlights to all 70 MLAs. The proposal was mooted by BJP’s Sahib Singh Chauhan. Other proposals, like providing free access on BRT bus-lanes to MLAs’ cars were also made