NEW DELHI: A no-confidence motion against the Sheila Dikshit Government on the first day of the monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly was defeated by a voice vote but not before the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party forced two adjournments and stormed the well of the House alleging a multi-crore scam in the privatisation of power and demanding resignation of Chief Minister. All 20 BJP members were physically evicted from the House by marshals for disrupting the proceedings.

Speaking on the motion senior BJP MLA Harsh Vardhan said his party's stand on corruption and scam in power privatisation had been vindicated by the findings of the PAC report. It has not only questioned the process adopted for privatisation of the power sector but has also pointed to "money" having played a big role in giving benefits to the private distribution companies and has also cast a shadow over the role of the senior bureaucrats at that time accusing them of favouring private companies for monetary considerations. "The Chief Minister has no moral right to remain in office after such severe indictment by the PAC that is headed by her own party leader and MLA, S.C. Vats, and if she has any morality left, she should resign from office," he stated.

Dr. Vardhan also came down heavily on the attempts to privatise the water sector and said despite denials by Ms. Dikshit time and again, every step taken by the Delhi Jal Board indicated that privatisation was happening and all utilities were being handed over to multinational companies. Referring to the power tariff hike issue, Dr. Vardhan said on the one hand the former Power Minister was stating that there was no provision for a 10 per cent hike every year while Ms. Dikshit was maintaining that the agreement with the private companies contained a clause where 10 per cent hike was mandatory every year. The Delhi Government has failed to come clear on this issue. The Leader of the Opposition, Jagdish Mukhi, demanding resignation of the Chief Minister said the BJP had been proved right that privatisation of power was nothing but a big scam that would come out into the open. Showering praise on Dr. Vats, the BJP leader demanded to know why the PAC report had not been tabled in the House. Rounding off the debate on the no-confidence motion moved by the BJP, Ms. Dikshit spoke out strongly in favour of reforms in the private sector and said the decision to opt for privatisation was taken by the party, the Government and the House. She said the Government was conscious of the fact at the time of privatisation that there would be ups and downs in the process but the overall impact had been positive with the power situation having shown improvement. "There has been no major problems except for those relating to meters and billing in the last three-four months," she added.

The Chief Minister said her Government had retraced its steps whenever it felt that it had gone wrong on a certain issue and would not hesitate to do the same in the interest of the people in future. Castigating the BJP for making baseless allegations and giving misleading facts, Ms. Dikshit said even after the introduction of power reforms the Congress party had won the Lok Sabha polls, the municipal polls and the Assembly elections vindicating the fact that people's support was with the Congress and not the BJP. Stating that the reforms were a step in the right direction, Ms. Dikshit also categorically stated that there was no move to privatise the Delhi Jal Board and steps were being taken only for better management of the water supply system.

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