NEW DELHI: Five BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the Delhi Assembly during its proceedings on Thursday for protesting against a discussion over the Manipur issue, following which other members of the party staged a walkout protest.
AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak began a short-duration discussion about the violence in the north-eastern state, prompting a protest from the BJP MLAs who left their seats, and said issues related to Delhi should be debated in the House.
Lakhs of people from Manipur live in Delhi and it was “our right and duty to discuss the issue in the House”, said Pathak.
Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla questioned the BJP legislators over their protest saying, “Do they feel that Manipur is not an issue to be discussed in the Assembly? The UP Assembly also discussed the Manipur issue.” As BJP MLAs continued their protest, four of them, Abhay Verma, Jitender Mahajan, Ajay Mahawar and OP Sharma, were marshalled out of the House.
Later, Mohan Singh Bisht was also marshalled out, following which other BJP members walked out. The BJP has eight legislators in the 70-member Assembly. The BJP legislators later staged a protest outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office in the Assembly, alleging corruption in the AAP government. Wearing black t-shirts and caps, and carrying placards, they raised slogans against Kejriwal. Their t-shirts were printed with a list of alleged scams in the government which mentioned the excise policy, revamp of the chief minister’s residence, installation of panic buttons in buses and classroom construction among others.
Back in the House, as the ruckus prevailed, Pathak said it was unfortunate the BJP objected to a discussion over the Manipur issue in the Delhi Assembly even though the matter was debated by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Led by Pathak, AAP legislators raised slogans against Prime Minister Modi.
Pathak alleged women were facing atrocities in BJP-ruled Manipur. “Nothing could be more unfortunate that people were forced to escape from Manipur to Myanmar due to the violence in the state,” he claimed. Manipur was burning due to the policies of the BJP, he said, adding people in the state were unsafe. “While Manipur was burning, the prime minister was touring foreign countries,” he alleged.
