Speaker Suppressing Voice of Opposition in Assembly: Atishi

• “I was not allowed to respond to the false allegations made by the ruling party; my microphone was switched off twice,” says Atishi.
• “The Speaker gave BJP MLAs a full opportunity to speak but did not allow AAP MLAs to even open their mouths,” she alleged.
• “The true face of BJP is to silence the poor, snatch their shelters, and mute the voices that speak for them,” Atishi remarked.

New Delhi, Aug 2025 : On the second day of the Monsoon Session of the Delhi Assembly, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader and Leader of Opposition Atishi strongly criticized the Assembly Speaker, Vijender Gupta, for suppressing the voice of the opposition in the House. She alleged that she was not allowed to respond to the false accusations levelled against the AAP by the ruling BJP and that her microphone was muted twice when she tried to speak.

Atishi said the Speaker provided ample opportunity for BJP legislators to speak but consistently interrupted AAP MLAs, preventing them from voicing their opinions. “The BJP government is silencing the voice of the poor inside the Assembly, but AAP will continue to raise their concerns,” Atishi asserted.

On Tuesday, BJP MLAs were making unfounded allegations against the previous AAP government during the Assembly proceedings. When Atishi attempted to counter these baseless claims, Speaker Vijender Gupta repeatedly interrupted her. Twice, her microphone was turned off mid-speech, prompting Atishi to lodge a strong protest, accusing the BJP government of muzzling the opposition.

BJP MLA Abhay Verma accused the previous AAP government of misrepresenting facts, claiming that what was propagated as a “gallows room” in the Assembly complex was, in reality, a “tiffin room” as per 1911 records. Speaker Gupta then demanded an apology from former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. When Atishi attempted to respond, her microphone was switched off again.

Atishi emphasized that AAP has always stood with the poor. She alleged that the BJP government had demolished homes of the underprivileged after making false promises like “where there is a slum, there will be a house” during elections. “In various parts of Delhi, bulldozers are being used to demolish homes, leaving thousands homeless. Houses are being razed even before court hearings on the matter are concluded,” she said.

She added that while she stood up to speak against these actions and defend the rights of the poor, the Speaker refused to let her speak, yet allowed BJP MLAs to voice their opinions freely. “Even when I tried to talk about the rights of the poor, my microphone was turned off,” she said.

Later, Atishi took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “The BJP’s four-engine government has once again proven its anti-poor stance. Before elections, they promised ‘where there is a slum, there will be a house’, but after coming to power, they sent bulldozers to those very slums, rendering people homeless. Today, when I tried to raise this issue in the Assembly and speak for the rights of the poor, the Speaker got my microphone turned off. This is the real face of the BJP government — silence the poor, snatch their roofs, and mute those who dare to speak up for them.”