BJP, AAP spar over bus marshals in Delhi

Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Friday said the lieutenant governor (LG) of Delhi and the BJP do not have any interest in listening to the problems of the 10,000 bus marshals sacked in 2023 and solving their problems. In a press conference at Delhi secretariat, Bharadwaj said BJP MLAs “cheated bus marshals” and did not come to meet LG while the AAP and Delhi government went to meet the “LG who did not give them time for a meeting.”
“When the AAP MLAs and ministers went to meet the LG yesterday, the bus marshals who were in contact with the BJP MLAs and had been promised by them repeatedly that they would all go to meet the LG on October 3rd to restore their jobs, found that all the BJP MLAs backed out and took a U-turn. Not a single BJP MLA came to the LG office yesterday. The bus marshals repeatedly called the BJP MLAs, including Vijender Gupta, but they did not answer. Thousands of bus marshals, men and women, have been unemployed for the past year and are struggling to pay rent, school fees, and even to buy rations. Despite these hardships, thousands of bus marshals showed up and pleaded for help, but the LG did not meet them,” Bharadwaj said in a press conference at Delhi secretariat.
The Delhi assembly had passed a resolution on October 26, 2023, demanding the reinstatement of the bus marshals and that the BJP and AAP MLAs will together go to LG office on October 3 to seek their immediate re-instatement. The resolution was supported by AAP and BJP MLAs.
Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta Vijender dismissed the allegations saying that despite the resolution in Assembly not a single MLA, leader, or official reached the LG’s office with the proposal.
To be sure, on Thursday morning AAP MLAs said the LG did not give them an appointment for a meeting, and later Saurabh Bharadwaj wrote a letter to the LG seeking an appointment. In the afternoon Bharadwaj and several AAP MLAs turned up at a protest being held by the bus marshals at Chandgi Ram Akhara in Civil Lines from where they were later detained by Delhi Police.
“The BJP MLAs will meet chief minister Atishi on Saturday to demand the re-instatement of the bus marshals, and will also put up the demands to ensure that reservation be provided to youths from SC, ST, OBC, and EWS categories in the re-instatement. The BJP is ready to extend full support on the re-instatement of the bus marshals. We will also ask why these 10,000 marshals were dismissed and why they were denied salaries for 6-7 months before being terminated,” said Gupta in a press conference at Delhi BJP office.
“On September 26 the BJP legislative party had introduced a resolution in the Delhi assembly demanding the reinstatement of the bus marshals and regularize their jobs. After discussions, the proposal was passed in the House. Following this, a cabinet note was supposed to be prepared, a cabinet meeting convened, and approval sought for the proposal. Finally, it was to be sent to the Lieutenant Governor for approval. However, the government failed to follow these steps, and instead staged a farce by announcing a false meeting with the LG on 3rd October to deceive the marshals,” said Gupta.
“The Delhi government had no intention of reinstating the marshals, as they were originally dismissed on the orders of Arvind Kejriwal in a note dated 11th October 2023. The leaders of AAP, who are always praising their former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, could go against his decision. This is why they avoided the necessary formalities, like preparing a cabinet note and holding a meeting,” said Gupta.
Delhi CM Atishi has given an appointment to Delhi BJP MLAs at 10:30am on Saturday for a meeting on bus marshals issues. “Today, the BJP MLAs wrote a letter requesting a meeting regarding the issue of bus marshals. This issue is very important. I have called them to the Delhi Secretariat tomorrow morning at 10:30,” Atishi said in a post on X.