Amid the ongoing war of words between them on allegations of corruption, AAP and BJP legislators held overnight protests on the Delhi Assembly premises on Monday.
Hours after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced its night-long sit-in against the Lieutenant Governor, BJP MLAs also started an overnight dharna on the Assembly premises demanding the sacking of ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain over alleged corruption.
The AAP said its MLAs will camp overnight at the Vidhan Sabha premises to press for a probe against Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena for allegedly pressuring two of his employees to exchange demonetised currency notes worth Rs 1,400 crore during his term as the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) chairman in 2016.
The development came days after Saxena recommended a CBI probe into alleged corruption in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and the AAP’s accusations that he was “interfering” in the city government’s work.
Holding placards, the AAP MLAs sat near the Mahatma Gandhi statue, while BJP MLAs started their sit-in near the statues of Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev inside the assembly premises. In a statement by the BJP, Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the party MLAs have been forced to sit on the dharna since they were not heard in the assembly.
All eight MLAs of the BJP were marshalled out of the House on Monday amid ruckus. The BJP said it will approach President Droupadi Murmu to raise the issue of the Assembly being used by the AAP government “to abuse the Centre”.
The BJP decided to sit on overnight protest over all its eight MLAs not being part of the proceedings of the Delhi Assembly’s special session on Monday and Friday as they were marshalled out of the House. The BJP said it will approach President Droupadi Murmu to raise the issue of the Assembly being used by the AAP government “to abuse the Centre”.
In a statement, the BJP said its MLAs were “expelled unconstitutionally” from the Delhi Assembly again on Monday and “no issue was allowed to be raised”. “The meeting of the BJP Legislature Party was held this afternoon under the chairmanship of Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and it was decided that the BJP MLAs would sit on a dharna near the statues of Shaheed Azam Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev inside the assembly premises.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday tabled a confidence motion in the Delhi Assembly, saying it was meant to prove that ‘Operation Lotus’ could have been successful in other states but failed here as all AAP MLAs were “hardcore honest”. Maintaining that the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ to topple his government failed as it could not poach any of the AAP MLAs, Kejriwal alleged that the BJP will try to topple the Jharkhand government in the next 15 days.
He also accused the Centre of waiving loans of billionaires but not that of students and farmers. The present central government is the “most corrupt” one as they buy MLAs, he alleged. Challenging the BJP to buy even one MLA of the AAP, Kejriwal said, “The confidence motion is to show that ‘Operation Lotus’ could have been successful in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states but failed here in Delhi. It is also to show that every AAP MLA is hardcore honest”.
Kejriwal further charged that the BJP toppled Manipur, Bihar, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments. At some places they even paid Rs 50 crore, he alleged. “You say that you are against corruption but you are buying MLAs. This is the most corrupt (central) government. You will face the curse of poor people. In 15 days, they will try to topple Jharkhand government and then petrol and diesel prices will go up,” Kejriwal said.
With inputs from News18, PTI
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