NEW DELHI: Atishi, the leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly, on Friday wrote a letter to speaker Vijender Gupta, criticising the “inaction” against BJP MLAs and suspension of the AAP MLAs from the House.
In the letter, the AAP leader said no action was taken against the ruling party’s MLAs for chanting “Modi-Modi” during the lieutenant governor’s address in the assembly, whereas the 21 opposition party MLAs were suspended for raising “Jai Bhim” slogans on February 25.
“I am writing this with great pain and anguish at this moment. The biggest strength of democracy is its fairness and equality. But whatever happened in the Delhi Assembly in the past few days is not only an injustice to the MLAs of the opposition but also a severe blow to democratic values,” she wrote in the letter.
She said that when the suspended MLAs attempted to hold a peaceful protest in front of Gandhiji’s statue within the assembly premises, they were stopped 200 meters from the assembly gate and denied entry.
“This is an insult not only to the MLAs but also to the mandate given by the people,” she said.
In her letter, the ex-Delhi chief minister also mentioned that when the speaker was the leader of the opposition, he was not prevented from demonstrating in front of the Gandhi statue even when he was suspended from the House.
She questioned whether this was a violation of the Constitution and democratic traditions.
Atishi called it a first instance in the Delhi assembly where suspended MLAs were barred from entering the premises, pointing out that even suspended MPs in Parliament are permitted to protest in front of the Gandhi statue within the premises.
The AAP leader claimed that the rule being cited to justify restricting opposition MLAs “does not explicitly state that suspended members cannot access the assembly premises or visit statues of Gandhi and Ambedkar”.
After AAP MLAs’ suspension, Delhi minister Ashish Sood alleged that AAP was attempting to divert attention from corruption during its term in office.
“Whenever AAP tries to create a ruckus, it is to cover up its corruption. The CAG report will expose its wrongdoings,” Sood said.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva also claimed that AAP MLAs were resorting to theatrics to cover up their own corruption.
“AAP functionaries, who once found pleasure in harassing BJP MLAs, are creating a dispute over the portraits of great leaders to cover up their own corruption. Those who expelled BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma from the assembly for almost a year in 2018 and again for two sessions in 2021 are now creating a fuss over their three-day suspension,” Sachdeva said.