January 5, 2026
Hon’ble Speaker Sir,
I sincerely thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak in this august House. Under the leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt. Rekha Gupta, the address delivered by the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor was not merely a list of schemes. It clearly reflected the government’s governance intent. That address demonstrated how the government, with strong political will, is moving steadily towards its goals through small, firm, and well-calibrated steps. Under the leadership of the Chief Minister, all MLAs and bureaucrats are working together with honesty and on a war footing to bring real change to Delhi.
Hon’ble Speaker Sir, I intended to confine myself strictly to the Lieutenant Governor’s address. However, the developments of the last five to seven minutes have compelled me to place certain facts before the House. Members of the Aam Aadmi Party have deliberately thrown loose balls. The Opposition benches repeatedly speak about manifestos. But Mr. Kadiyan, I do not know whether you were part of the Aam Aadmi Party at that time or not, but there was once a 70-point agenda for all 70 Assembly constituencies. There were promises of providing two lakh jobs, ensuring last-mile connectivity, and many other commitments. Subsequently, that 70-point agenda simply disappeared. Then came a 10-point agenda, which claimed that pollution would be reduced, two crore trees would be planted—you had even spoken of five crore—and that the Yamuna river would be cleaned and rejuvenated. According to your claims, the Yamuna is already flowing clean! You said you had done it five years ago—no, eleven months ago, I am aware.
People from within your own party have told me that many of you are now disillusioned with your old leadership. That is why you keep opening their ten-year-old report cards here. That is why you now admit that for eleven years you made tall claims but could not clean the Yamuna. Yet the audacity, Hon’ble Speaker Sir, the audacity lies in questioning us after just ten months. You say that we handed over papers to the Lieutenant Governor. For the last eleven years, were papers being flown in from London for the Lieutenant Governor to read? Did your government not prepare the Lieutenant Governor’s address? Your cabinet did not give inputs? This constant pattern of lying, lying again, and then running away has been your politics.
Shri Arvind Kejriwal ran away after making a false claim that Delhi’s teachers were being deployed to count dogs. I have repeatedly demanded an apology. Ms. Atishi made statements and then disappeared, even from the House. I did not wish to raise these issues, but sometimes it becomes necessary to show the mirror so that there are no misconceptions.
Hon’ble Speaker Sir, coming back to the core issue. The Lieutenant Governor’s address presented before us under the leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt. Rekha Gupta is a document of delivery-oriented governance. In just eleven months, significant work has been done on process simplification, approval timelines, and administrative responsiveness. Several initiatives related to ease of doing business have been implemented. From police licensing to multiple other licensing processes, facilitation has been ensured in a very short span of just ten months under the Chief Minister’s leadership.
In the previous regime, JJ clusters and slums were often used merely as tools for political PR and vote-bank politics. This House has witnessed that phase as well. The budget of DUSIB, meant for jhuggi-jhopri dwellers, was released at 11:55 pm on March 31 and lapsed at midnight. Not even one rupee was spent on slums—this is on record. Today, those same people speak loudly about jhuggi-jhopris only to hide their own glass palaces in Delhi and Chandigarh.
In these eleven months, under the leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, not only has work begun in jhuggi-jhopris, but budgets have also been approved for constructing toilets and bathrooms to uphold the dignity of mothers and sisters living there—facilities that were never provided earlier. The work is progressing at a rapid pace.
Much has been said about Atal Canteens. I often recall an old advertisement from the film Chashme Buddoor, where someone says, “Why is your shirt whiter than mine?” and then deliberately stains it. These are people who cannot tolerate seeing anyone else’s shirt clean or anyone else’s home prospering. You had eleven years to run such welfare initiatives. You did run services—services to big contractors, in the name of PWD scams, and services to yourself by building grand glass palaces. That was your version of service.
But let me place facts on record. Between December 25 and January 8, 2026, Atal Canteens served food daily to thousands: 17,587 on December 25, 20,821 on December 26, 25,000 on December 27, 25,000 on December 28, 25,000 on December 29, 27,000 on January 5, 27,000 on January 6, over 27,000 on January 7, and over 27,000 on January 8. In total, 3,76,779 people have eaten meals at Atal Canteens during this period.
You may continue abusing us and searching for faults—go and look for a few grains of food fallen here and there. Do it. We will continue working with full focus, because we have been elected to serve.
The Lieutenant Governor’s address highlighted how a daily wage worker, who earlier had to cook food for two days before leaving for work, is now receiving hot and nutritious meals twice a day. Perhaps this is difficult for some to digest—those who dine in glass palaces would naturally find Atal Canteen food unpalatable.
There has been a significant transformation in governance. Attempts were even made today, through certain NGOs nurtured by the Opposition, to obtain a stay from the courts, but as the saying goes, “Whom God protects, none can harm.” The court refused to grant a stay. On issues related to renaming of schools, we will respond comprehensively at the appropriate time.
The government’s governance intent is clear. A structured process has been put in place. The previous model involved daily protests over fees, frequent strikes, and administrative chaos. I state with pride that under the leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, all 18 lakh students studying in government schools are our responsibility. Their well-being—mental, financial, and emotional—is our duty. In these eleven months, we have succeeded in safeguarding this responsibility, and the Lieutenant Governor’s address reflects this clearly.
Hon’ble Members should recall the situation eleven months ago. Garbage lay on the streets, sanitation workers were on strike due to unpaid salaries, and while teachers and non-teaching staff of twelve colleges sat on hunger strikes outside their institutions for months, the then Chief Minister celebrated festivals on television studios. In eleven months, this government has set the processes right. Today, there is no confrontation between the Municipal Corporation and the Delhi Government. We have taken responsibility, provided funds, shown political intent, and delivered results.
In higher education, as mentioned in the Lieutenant Governor’s address, significant work has been done under the Chief Minister’s leadership. Work related to EduCity, arrangements during the Kanwar Yatra, and other initiatives have been undertaken. I am also pleased to inform the House that a four-year power master plan worth ₹17,000 crore has been prepared. In the coming years, distribution networks across all constituencies will be strengthened.
Hon’ble Speaker Sir, I once again thank you for giving me this opportunity. The people of Delhi want to hear, through this sacred House, about the achievements of the Hon’ble Chief Minister in the last eleven months, her strong governance intent, her decisive leadership, and her courage—demonstrated when she suspended three corrupt officials within minutes to uphold the rule of law in Delhi, even when the Opposition chose to stand with the corrupt.
