The Delhi Police Commissioner joins a House debate, finally

Dadwal checks in

The Delhi Police Commissioner joins a House debate, finally

Reaching out: Delhi Police Commissioner YS Dadwal at Delhi Vidhan Sabha in New Delhi on Monday. PIC/RAJEEV TYAGI

Delhi Police Commissioner Yudhbir Singh Dadwal was the 'most wanted' by legislators in the Delhi Assembly when he gave them a miss during a discussion on the law and order situation in the city. MiD DAY had reported on Friday how the Delhi's top cop did not join the debate even after being called by Speaker Yoganand Shastri himself.

However, Dadwal reached the Delhi Vidhan Sabha to join the discussion that was postponed owing to his absence on Thursday. The mood was completely changed and the lawmakers were seen praising the Delhi Police and the leadership of Dadwal for making Delhi the "safest city".

Dadwal reached the assembly barely a few minutes before the discussion started in the post-lunch session at 2 pm. He was accompanied by a number of top officials, including Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Neeraj Thakur, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) PN Aggarwal, Delhi Police official spokesperson Rajan Bhagat, among others.

Initiating the debate, BJP MLA Jagdish Mukhi claimed that that the national capital has become "crime capital". He alleged that the police have failed to secure city's people and their property.

But unlike Thursday when the Congress MLAs had joined their BJP counterparts in condemning the Commissioner for his absence from the house, they chose to shower only praise upon him and his force.u00a0

"No one will be able to deny that the presence of police is visible in most parts of the city. Even in the night we can see a visible police presence. Police must be praised for keeping the city safe as no terrorist attacks or bombings took place in the last few years," chief minister Sheila Dikshit said.

But at the same time, she said, there has been an increase in the number of cases related to attempt to murder, kidnapping and vehicle theft. "But it would be unfair to draw a general conclusion that Delhi has become the crime capital," she said.

Quoting a recent CII report, Dikshit said Delhi has been declared the "safest city in the country."
"Police-people ratio in Delhi is the highest in the country. There are 83,000 police personnel deployed in the capital city whereas services of another 27,000 personnel are taken as and when necessary," the chief minister said.

She said over 30 lakh people travel from cities of neighbouring states to Delhi everyday. "It is a generally accepted fact that increase in population results in rise in pressure on the society as a whole."
The debate continued for over two and a half hour. Not even a single MLA spoke against the Delhi police.
On conclusion of the debate, Speaker Yoganand Shastri even thanked Dadwal for coming to the House to which BJP leaders objected.

Cooperate with us
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday asked the Opposition BJP not to indulge in any blame game over the preparations for the Commonwealth Games and said the event will be a great success. Dikshit said almost all the Games venues are ready and they will be handed over to the Organising Committee within next two-three days.
"Don't do this, otherwise Commonwealth Games will appear to collapse. I am requesting you with folded hands not to do this," Dikshit said in the Assembly. Her comment came after Leader of Opposition V K Malhotra criticised the Delhi Government for "tardy" preparations for the event and raised the issue of roads caving in and widespread water logging across the city.
The Congress MLAs in turn blamed MCD for rising cases of dengue in the city. Sheila took a soft stand and said, "25-35 per cent of the cases have come from outside Delhi and the total dengue cases were not very worrying compared to the city's total population. We will look after each and every patient. We are launching awareness programme. Situation is under control."

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