Atishi to meet BJP legislative party leaders today on reinstatement of bus marshals

Claiming that the issue of bus marshals is important and sensitive, Chief Minister Atishi on Friday invited BJP MLAs, including Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, to meet her regarding the reinstatement of the bus marshals at the Delhi Secretariat at 10.30 am on Saturday.

‘AAP staged a farce’

A Cabinet note should have been prepared, followed by a meeting to approve the proposal before sending it to the L-G for final approval. Instead, the AAP government staged a farce by announcing a fake meeting with the L-G on October 3. We will ask the Chief Minister why these marshals were dismissed without fault and why they were denied their salaries for six months — Vijender Gupta, Leader of the Opposition, Delhi Assembly

Meanwhile, Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of cheating 10,000 bus marshals for not coming to meet the L-G for reinstating them. Bharadwaj said the salaries have been withheld since January 2023, warning of their impending financial collapse.

“On October 3, as agreed in the Delhi Assembly, both AAP and BJP MLAs, along with AAP ministers, were supposed to meet L-G VK Saxena. The resolution was clear: all ministers were ready to sign any document needed for the reinstatement of the bus marshals. But when the time came, not a single BJP MLA showed up,” he added.

Bharadwaj also took aim at Saxena, accusing him of deepening the crisis for contractual workers in the city, from hospital staff to public transport employees.

Earlier, Gupta accused the AAP of betraying 10,000 DTC marshals by staging a “drama” around their reinstatement, only to play with their futures.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Gupta highlighted that on September 26, the BJP had introduced a proposal in the Assembly for reinstating and regularising the jobs of these marshals. The proposal was passed in the House, but the government failed to take further steps.

“A Cabinet note should have been prepared, followed by a meeting to approve the proposal before sending it to the L-G for final approval. Instead, the AAP government staged a farce by announcing a fake meeting with the L-G on October 3,” said Gupta.

Gupta questioned the intentions of the Delhi Government, claiming that the marshals were dismissed under an order issued by former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on October 11, 2023. He added, “The AAP government had no intention of reinstating the marshals. They are now trying to deceive the public by not completing the required formalities, like preparing a cabinet note.”

Gupta said, “The Aam Aadmi Party has repeatedly betrayed Delhi’s youth. They exploit temporary employees, deny them salaries for months and then dismiss them overnight. This is just the latest in a long list of AAP’s betrayals.”

He also accused the AAP of denying SC, ST, OBC and EWS category youth their rightful reservations in the recruitment of marshals, despite claiming to be protectors of the poor and Backward Classes. “They treat these communities as a vote bank but deny them their rightful opportunities when it comes to employment,” Gupta said.

Mocking Bharadwaj, Gupta remarked, “Before going to the L-G, Bharadwaj should know that a Cabinet note must be prepared, a meeting held and the complete file submitted. But Bharadwaj and the AAP government never intended to reinstate the marshals in the first place.”