A major political showdown erupted in the national capital on Thursday as Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, claimed that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs were barred from entering the Assembly premises on the orders of Speaker Vijender Gupta.
The AAP MLAs were suspended on Tuesday for three days for raising slogans and creating a ruckus during Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s address in the House. When Atishi confronted the police over the denial of entry, the police cited a directive from the Speaker.
Today, AAP MLAs reported that the Delhi Police had placed barricades, preventing them from entering the Assembly complex. Atishi termed the BJP government’s move as “open dictatorship” and questioned how elected MLAs could be stopped from accessing the Assembly premises.
“This is dictatorship. In the history of the country, this has never happened that you’re not allowing an elected MLA to enter the Assembly complex. You can suspend us from the House, but how can you stop us from entering the premises? How can they stop the LoP from visiting the LoP office?” she said.
She demanded a written order from the police on the denial of their entry. “They (police) don’t even have a written order; they have only placed barricades,” she added. The police responded that they had the Speaker’s directive.
The AAP MLAs staged a protest outside the complex, just in front of the barricades, raising slogans and placards against the government. “As soon as the BJP government came to power in Delhi, open dictatorship has begun. The elected MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party are not even being allowed to enter the Assembly premises. This attitude of the BJP government, the Assembly Speaker, and the police has crossed all limits of dictatorship and is murdering democracy,” Atishi told reporters.
Delhi Minister Parvesh Verma supported the suspension of the AAP MLAs, stating that they had disrupted the House proceedings by raising slogans during the L-G’s address. “If they break the laws in this manner, it’s not good,” he said.
The BJP government has announced plans to table all 14 pending Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports of the previous AAP government in the Assembly session, although no such report is scheduled to be tabled today. The AAP MLAs were suspended from the House after creating an uproar over the CAG report on the now-scrapped liquor policy.
