On February 25, 21 AAP MLAs including Atishi were suspended for three days for allegedly disrupting Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena’s inaugural address
NEW DELHI — A political confrontation has erupted in the Delhi Assembly after the suspension of 21 MLAs of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with Leader of Opposition Atishi calling it an “insult to the people’s mandate” while Speaker Vijender Gupta defending the move, citing parliamentary rules and past disruptions.
On February 25, 21 AAP MLAs including Atishi were suspended for three days for allegedly disrupting Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena’s inaugural address. The AAP members had raised slogans protesting the alleged removal of portraits of B R Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from the chief minister’s office in the Assembly. The Speaker ordered their suspension through a majority vote and had them marshalled out of the House, PTI reported.
The controversy deepened when the suspended MLAs including former chief minister Atishi were prevented from entering the Assembly premises the next day while attempting to hold a protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue. The leader of opposition (LoP) termed the move “unprecedented” and accused the BJP government of “crossing all limits of dictatorship” by stifling the opposition’s voice.
In a letter to Speaker Gupta, Atishi alleged that the opposition MLAs were being unfairly targeted, arguing that while AAP members were punished for chanting “Jai Bhim”, the BJP MLAs who chanted “Modi-Modi” during the LG’s address faced no consequences. She has also written to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking an appointment to discuss what she described as the “murder of democracy” in Delhi.
Responding to Atishi’s claims, the Speaker rejected the allegations of bias and accused the opposition of disrupting the proceedings of the House. He defended the decision to bar the suspended MLAs from the premises, citing Assembly Rule 277, which states that “A member who has been suspended from the service of the House shall be barred from entering the premises of the House and from taking part in the proceedings of the House and Committees”.
Gupta also criticised the opposition’s conduct, stating that disruptions had begun even before the LG’s address. Referring to the Speaker’s election on February 24, he wrote, “It should have been a dignified process. Unfortunately, the process was marred by sloganeering and disruption by the opposition members. Despite this unbecoming conduct, I exercised restraint and did not take any disciplinary action.” Regarding the LG’s address on February 25, Gupta pointed to the fifth schedule (code of conduct rules), which mandates that interruptions during the LG’s speech be treated as “disrespect towards the Lt Governor and contempt of the House”. He said suspending the MLAs was not an arbitrary decision but based on clear parliamentary rules.
Responding to AAP’s allegations, Speaker Gupta said in the Assembly, “LoP Atishi has written a letter to me and is continuously misleading people, I want to make it clear that the dignity of the House has to be maintained, especially during LG’s address. According to the definition of the Delhi Assembly as per rule 277 of the rule book, the whole premises of the building are included.
“According to the rule, when a member is suspended from the House then that means barred from the whole premises. In the future too, if there will be any misconduct then the same kind of action will be taken,” he said.
The controversy erupted at a time when the Assembly was set to discuss the CAG reports — an issue that the BJP has been highlighting. Gupta accused the opposition of attempting to distract from serious governance issues, writing, “Instead of discussing issues concerning the people of Delhi, particularly the CAG reports, the opposition resorted to disruptive action in the House.” In her letter to President Murmu, Atishi accused the BJP of “crossing all limits of dictatorship” after coming to power in the national capital and called for intervention to restore democratic norms.
“The BJP believes that the country should be run as per a new constitution by PM Modi and not by BR Ambedkar’s constitution. That’s why they are removing B R Ambedkar’s photo and have put up PM Modi’s photo.
“Besides, they don’t have an issue. BJP raises ‘Modi, Modi’ slogan but has an issue if AAP leaders raise ‘Jai Bheem’ slogans and that’s why we were marshalled out of the Assembly. Now, we have been stopped from meeting the President. We have not been stopped outside the Rashtrapati Bhavan but outside the Delhi Assembly,” Atishi told PTI Videos.
With AAP leaders continuing to call the suspensions “unconstitutional” and the Speaker standing firm on his decision, the political standoff in Delhi is likely to intensify in the coming days.
