Leader of Opposition Atishi and other Aam Aadmi Party MLAs were stopped from entering the Delhi assembly premises on Thursday, following which they staged a dharna outside.
Leader of Opposition Atishi and other Aam Aadmi Party MLAs were stopped from entering the Delhi assembly premises on Thursday, following which they staged a dharna outside.
Former AAP chief minister Atishi said the BJP was “crossing all limits of dictatorship” after coming to power in Delhi.
AAP MLAs have been suspended from the assembly over disruptions in the House proceedings during Lt Governor VK Saxena's address on Tuesday. The AAP said it was protesting the alleged removal of BR Ambedkar's portrait from the CM's office.
On Thursday, AAP leaders staged a dharna outside the gate of the assembly premises.
With 'dafli' beats in the background, AAP leaders held placards with photos of Ambedkar and raised slogans against the ruling party -- "BJP sun le, Jai Bhim, Jai Bhim" ... "BJP ki tanashahi nahin chalegi (BJP's dictatorship won't work)".
AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar told PTI, "We raised slogans of 'Jai Bhim' (in the assembly) and for that, we were suspended for three days. Today, we were not allowed to enter the House. This is wrong. How can they stop the voice of the Opposition? How can they bar the entire Opposition from participating?”
Another AAP MLA at the sit-in protest, Sanjeev Jha, said, “The speaker's order is strange. We were the ones who supported his appointment and now he has expelled us. We are trying to reach out to the speaker, but he is not answering our calls. This BJP government hates Dr BR Ambedkar's ideology."
AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan said that even when BJP MLAs climbed on top of tables in the House, they were never stopped like this. Khan is the only MLA who hasn't been suspended as he was not present in the assembly that day. "This has never happened before," he said.
Earlier in a post on X, Atishi said, "AAP MLAs were suspended from the House for three days for raising slogans of 'Jai Bhim'. And today, they are not even being allowed to enter the Vidhan Sabha premises. This has never happened in the history of the Delhi Legislative Assembly."
On Tuesday, 21 out of 22 AAP MLAs, including Atishi, were suspended from the House. The suspension of AAP MLAs came on a day when the Delhi government tabled a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the liquor policy, further intensifying the face-off between AAP and the BJP.
As soon as the LG began his address, the AAP legislators started raising slogans against the alleged removal of portraits of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from the Chief Minister's office.
Delhi minister Parvesh Verma moved a motion for suspension of the opposition MLAs present in the House. Speaker Vijender Gupta suspended the 21 AAP legislators for disrupting Saxena's inaugural address to the newly constituted House and issued orders to marshall out all 21 MLAs from the House due to the disruption.
Following their suspension, AAP MLAs staged a demonstration within the assembly complex, holding up portraits of Ambedkar. Atishi accused the BJP of trying to erase Ambedkar's legacy.
"The BJP has shown its true colours by removing Babasaheb Ambedkar's portrait. Does it believe Prime Minister Narendra Modi can replace Babasaheb?" she said.
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