New Delhi, Feb. 28 -- A political confrontation has erupted in the Delhi Assembly after the suspension of 21 MLAs of the oOpposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with Leader of Opposition Atishi calling it an "insult to the people's mandate" while Speaker Vijender Gupta defending the move, citing parliamentary rules and past disruptions.
On February 25, 21 AAP MLAs including Atishi were suspended for three days for allegedly disrupting Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena's inaugural address. The AAP members had raised slogans protesting the alleged removal of portraits of B R Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from the chief minister's office in the Assembly. The Speaker ordered their suspension through a majority vote and had them marshalled out of the House.
The controversy deepened when the suspended MLAs including former chief minister Atishi were prevented from entering the Assembly premises the next day while attempting to hold a protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue. The leader of opposition (LoP) termed the move "unprecedented" and accused the BJP government of "crossing all limits of dictatorship" by stifling the opposition's voice.
In a letter to Speaker Gupta, Atishi alleged that the opposition MLAs were being unfairly targeted, arguing that while AAP members were punished for chanting "Jai Bhim", the BJP MLAs who chanted "Modi-Modi" during the LG's address faced no consequences. She has also written to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking an appointment to discuss what she described as the "murder of democracy" in Delhi.
Responding to Atishi's claims, the Speaker rejected the allegations of bias and accused the opposition of disrupting the proceedings of the House. He defended the decision to bar the suspended MLAs from the premises, citing Assembly Rule 277, which states that "A member who has been suspended from the service of the House shall be barred from entering the premises of the House and from taking part in the proceedings of the House and Committees". Gupta also criticised the opposition's conduct, stating that disruptions had begun even before the L-G's address. Referring to the Speaker's election on February 24, he wrote, "It should have been a dignified process. Unfortunately, the process was marred by sloganeering and disruption by the opposition members. Despite this unbecoming conduct, I exercised restraint and did not take any disciplinary action." Regarding the L-G's address on February 25, Gupta pointed to the fifth schedule (code of conduct rules), which mandates that interruptions during the L-G's speech be treated as "disrespect towards the Lt Governor and contempt of the House". He said suspending the MLAs was not an arbitrary decision but based on clear parliamentary rules.
Responding to AAP's allegations, Speaker Gupta said in the Assembly, "LoP Atishi has written a letter to me and is continuously misleading people, I want to make it clear that the dignity of the House has to be maintained, especially during L-G's address. According to the definition of the Delhi Assembly as per rule 277 of the rule book, the whole premises of the building are included. "According to the rule, when a member is suspended from the House then that means barred from the whole premises. In the future too, if there will be any misconduct then the same kind of action will be taken," he said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.