The Hindu : New Delhi News : Congress, BJP fight it out inside the Assembly

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Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008
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New Delhi

Congress, BJP fight it out inside the Assembly

Staff Reporter

Both sides accuse each other of lowering the dignity of the House

NEW DELHI: Following the unprecedented skirmishes between members of the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP during the Lieutenant-Governor’s address in the Delhi Assembly on Monday, both sides have accused each other of lowering the dignity of the House.

Though the Leader of the House, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, had not intervened while the pushing and shoving was taking place, she later condemned the protest by the BJP as one inspired by cheap publicity.

On the other hand, the BJP’s Saket MLA Vijay Jolly, who was in the thick of action, later lodged a complaint with Speaker Prem Singh. Filing a notice under Rule 66 for breach of privilege, he charged that the right of the opposition BJP legislators to protest in public interest had been violated.

Stating that “violence has no place in a democracy”, Mr. Jolly also accused Congress MLA Bhisham Sharma of physically assaulting him in the House. Complaining that Mr. Sharma had been involved in similar incidents on two earlier occasions as well, he recalled that the last time he had even been expelled from the House for assaulting BJP chief whip Sahib Singh Chauhan.

The incident also left the Delhi Ministers aghast. While none of the Ministers or the MLAs close to Ms. Dikshit came to the floor of the House, two Ministers expressed concern at the development saying it had shown the Delhi legislators in poor light.

The senior BJP leaders were equally saddened by the turn of events.

While Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Mukhi, Delhi BJP president Harsh Vadhan and chief whip Chauhan had refrained from coming into the well of the House, what has really troubled them is the manner in which Delhi Cantonment MLA Karan Singh Tanwar protested in an “undemocratic manner” and ignored their directions to resume his seat.

Even later, Mr. Tanwar skipped the legislature party meeting and preferred to give interviews to the media instead.

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