The Hindu : New Delhi News : Chaotic scenes at MCD

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Thursday, Sep 27, 2007
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New Delhi

Chaotic scenes at MCD

Staff Reporter

Leader of Opposition flings microphone at electrician

Police called in, possibly for the first time at
an MCD Standing Committee meeting
This is sheer murder of the democratic way
of functioning, says Vijender Gupta

NEW DELHI: Unprecedented scenes marked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Standing Committee meeting here on Wednesday with police being summoned after Leader of the Opposition J.K. Sharma flung a microphone at an electrician. The meeting was adjourned a while later.

Mr. Sharma was apparently protesting against his microphone being repeatedly switched off to prevent him from speaking at the meeting.

Soon after the meeting began with tributes being paid to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jana Krishnamurthy who passed away in Chennai on Tuesday, a verbal skirmish which has become the norm in civic body proceedings, started with Mr. Sharma demanding strict action against Leader of the House Subhash Arya as per Tuesday’s directions of a trial court.

Frustrated with his malfunctioning microphone, Mr. Sharma slammed a cordless microphone which had been handed to him as a replacement into Mohan Singh’s chest.

Following this, Deputy Chairman Yogender Chandolia immediately telephoned the police, making it possibly the first instance of police personnel being called to an MCD Standing Committee meeting. However, better sense prevailed and the police were asked to leave.

Complain filed

Mohan Singh, who later filed a written complaint against Mr. Sharma with the Chief Engineer, said: “The mike hit me in the chest. Mr. Sharma’s mike wasn’t working because of some loose wires. He assumed I was doing it deliberately at the behest of the ruling party members.”

Denying allegations of physically assaulting an MCD employee, Mr. Sharma said: “I only handed over the microphone to him as it was not working. This is the sixth or seventh instance of the BJP members deliberately instructing electricians to switch my mike off. Whenever I stand up to speak, I find my microphone is not working.”

The Opposition leader also said much should not be read into this incident because such mishaps were common even in the Lok Sabha.

Condemning the incident, Standing Committee Chairman Vijender Gupta said: “This is a sheer murder of the democratic way of functioning. The Standing Committee meeting is being used as a political arena rather than a constructive process. There are ways to protest and this is certainly not one of them.”

Mr. Gupta said the onus for lodging an FIR did not rest with him as unlike the State Assembly and the Lok Sabha the MCD House was not a “Privileged House” wherein the Speaker was bestowed with the power to take immediate action against offenders.

However, the Chairman tactfully evaded questions on the BJP Shahadra (South) councillor Ramveer who reportedly assaulted a senior scribe of the vernacular Press on the MCD premises. Ramveer had also been implicated in violence against Congress councillor Razia Sultana earlier this month.

Mr. Gupta also side-stepped questions about action against the Leader of the House, Subhash Arya, who is alleged to have passed “casteist remarks” in the House.

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