NEW DELHI: The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday created a ruckus in the Delhi Assembly demanding that a discussion on the precarious power and water situation be taken up on a priority basis in view of the tabling of the Public Accounts Committee report on power privatisation.

Similarly, Congress MLA Mahabal Mishra created a flutter in the House when he accused the Power Grievances Committee of the Delhi Government of doing little for the welfare of consumers.

As soon as question hour was over, Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Mukhi along with other BJP members was up on his feet demanding that the Assembly session be extended to take up discussions on important issues. Mr. Mukhi said it had been decided at the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee that the session would be held on Saturdays but that was also not done.

Then it was promised that the session would be extended but now that idea had also been dropped. He said the important issue of power and water crises had still not been discussed and therefore these should be taken up on a priority basis.

However, the Speaker, Chaudhary Prem Singh, said the business for the day had already been decided and would not be changed.

But the BJP members were unrelenting, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House 30 minutes ahead of tea break.

As soon as the House re-assembled, Mr. Mishra, raising the matter under Rule 280, created a flutter when he accused the Power Grievances Committee headed by Kalkaji MLA, Subhash Chopra of having failed to perform the role it had been assigned and joining hands with private distribution companies to sacrifice the interests of the lakhs of consumers.

"Mr. Chopra was the first person to raise the issue of fast running meters. He told the Assembly as well as all the Congress MLAs that a Chinese chip had been inserted in the meters by BSES that ensured that they ran fast leading to inflated bills. He had also charged the Government with acting as middlemen for the Reliance-owned BSES. But all that has changed and people now want to know what happened to the charges levelled by such a senior person," Mr. Mishra said as the House listened in silence.

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