The Hindu : New Delhi News : Uproarious scenes in Assembly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 16, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Uproarious scenes in Assembly

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 15. Uproarious scenes were witnessed in the Delhi Assembly today as Bharatiya Janata Party members disrupted the Lieutenant-Governor's address on the opening day of the Budget session. Shouting slogans and raising banners, the Opposition demanded dismissal of the Sheila Dikshit Government on the charge of "corruption".

No sooner did Mr B.L. Joshi rise to take the podium for his customary address, the BJP MLAs were on their feet. They raised slogans against the Delhi Government and accused it of corruption in various fields.

Holding aloft banners and placards, the members then trooped into the well of the House where they stood right before Mr Joshi and kept up the din through a constant raising of slogans. The scene was almost a replica of the manner in which the BJP members had held Parliament to ransom in the wake of the Jharkhand crisis.

The only scenic difference was that among the MLAs there were some who bared their vests, which had anti-corruption slogans written on them.

Amid all the slogan-shouting, Mr Joshi continued speaking even though his voice was barely audible in all the commotion. However, like the Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, the Lieutenant-Governor too appeared unfazed by the sloganeering and continued with his speech for nearly half an hour.

His approach was, however, not liked by the Leader of the Opposition, Jagdish Mukhi, who asked: "Listen to your conscience and dismiss the Sheila Dikshit Government which is steeped in corruption."

The Assembly then paid tribute to the former Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, and the victims of the tsunami disaster before adjourning for the day.

Later, Mr Mukhi said that though BJP had the "highest regard for the Chair", the Lieutenant-Governor "should not have allowed the inept and corrupt Government to continue", especially in the wake of the Sales Tax Department expose which had caught over 80 people taking bribe. "As the representative of the Union Government, the Lieutenant-Governor should immediately dismiss the Dikshit regime," he demanded.

The BJP today also found an ally in Independent MLA, Ranvir Singh Kharab, who "withdrew" his informal support to the Congress Government and joined in the clamour for its dismissal.

Responding to the allegations before the media later in the day, Ms Dikshit described the disruption as "unfortunate". The Opposition, she said, should have maintained decorum during the Governor's address.

Meanwhile, the Congress Legislature Party headed by the Chief Minister reiterated its commitment to providing the Capital with a transparent and corruption-free administration and resolved to take every possible step to ensure this.

During the meeting, the MLAs deliberated various issues of concern including corruption and pace of developmental works and it was resolved that every possible step would be initiated to weed out corruption. Of the view that removal of multiplicity of authority was a solution for ending delays and fixing responsibility, some members also sought full Statehood for Delhi.

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