AAP and BJP MLAs stage dharna in Delhi Assembly to settle scores
Following a resolution moved by the AAP MLAs, BJP legislator OP Sharma was expelled from the Assembly for the ongoing session but the ruling party members continued to protest, seeking his immediate arrest and permanent expulsion from the Assembly.
The Delhi Assembly turned into a battleground on Thursday with the AAP and BJP MLAs staging dharna to settle scores.
Following a resolution moved by the AAP MLAs, BJP legislator OP Sharma was expelled from the Assembly for the ongoing session but the ruling party members continued to protest, seeking his immediate arrest and permanent expulsion from the Assembly.
Unprecedented din occurred in the House as the AAP MLAs sat on protest in the well of the House and refused to relent despite repeated requests by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. Consequently, no business was conducted in the first two hours.
The BJP MLAs, led by Vijender Gupta, walked out of the House and staged a protest alleging bias on part of the Speaker and 'autocratic' behaviour of the government. Opposition leader Vijender Gupta said the BJP MLAs would meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh to apprise him of the gross misconduct in the Assembly. "Along with the other party MLAs, I will call upon Home Minister Rajnath Singh to apprise him of the gross violation of Rules, abusive behaviour of the ruling party members and the injustice meted out to BJP legislators," Gupta said.
Also read: AAP-BJP clash over MLA OP Sharma's 'baazaaru mahila' remark on Alka Lamba
What added to the furore of AAP MLAs was the arrest of party MLA Akhilesh Tripathi. Terming the police action as a breach of privilege, agitating leaders sought the immediate arrest of BJP MLA Sharma. As uproar continued, the Speaker adjourned the House twice. AAP members alleged that Tripathi was arrested with malafide intentions as the party was pressing for the arrest of BJP leader.
Taking a strict note of the matter, Speaker Goel also referred the matter to the Ethics Committee of the House for a further probe as six women MLAs of AAP, sporting black badges, sat in the well of the House. The resolution to suspend Sharma, one of the three BJP MLAs in the House, was moved by Najafgarh legislator Kailash Gahlot, while the one on Ethics Committee by Law Minister Kapil Mishra, AAP's Karawal Nagar MLA.
"We will not budge from our demand. He (OP Sharma) must be sent to jail and disqualified from the Assembly membership," Alka Lamba said. She was joined by another legislator Rakhi Birla who said Sharma must be jailed so that he gets a lesson. "Narrowminded people like Sharma should not be in the state assembly but in jail," she said.
The women MLAs were also joined by their male colleagues who gathered around the Speaker's podium and shouted slogans every time the proceedings resumed. The six women MLAs agreed to return to their seats only after the Speaker assured them of deciding Sharma's case by the ethics committee at the earliest. The nine-member ethics committee oversees the moral and ethical conduct of members and examines complaints relating to unethical conduct of a member referred to it by the House or Speaker. It has been tasked with submitting a report before the commencement of the next session of Delhi Assembly.
The development took place after the two BJP members in the House - Vijender Gupta and Jagdish Pradhan - walked out in protest against Goel's decision to reject their privilege motion alleging that AAP legislators tried to attack Sharma in the Assembly on Monday. Sharma was not present in the House as he was debarred from attending the proceedings till Thursday.
Earlier, AAP's Model Town MLA Akhilesh Tripathi was arrested by Delhi Police while he was on way to attend the Assembly proceedings. He was arrested in a 2013 rioting and criminal intimidation case and was sent to a judicial custody for two days by a city court.