Oppn stalls Assembly for second day

The Delhi Assembly could not function for the second consecutive day as the Opposition demanded that a censure motion be passed against PWD Minister Rajkumar Chauhan for allegedly trying to protect the Tivoli Garden resort from a raid by VAT officials.

As soon as proceedings began at the House,BJP members started demanding Chauhan’s dismissal,and told Speaker Yoganand Shastri to admit a notice for censure motion against the Minister. However,Shastri replied that the Delhi Assembly does not have “a provision for a censure motion”.

When the Speaker did not pay heed to their request,BJP MLAs trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans against the government as well as Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Following this,the Speaker adjourned the House for 20 minutes. When the proceedings resumed,the BJP MLAs repeated the same action,and the House had to be adjourned for another 20 minutes.

When the House met after the second adjournment,Opposition MLAs continued to protest — following which Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely moved a resolution seeking removal of BJP MLAs from the House.

The resolution was passed by a voice vote,and the Speaker ordered marshals to remove the MLAs from the House. The Speaker said MLAs have been suspended for the day.

Speaking to reporters,Opposition Leader V K Malhotra later termed the action as “dictatorial” and “totally unacceptable”.

“The removal of the main Opposition of the House reflects the dictatorial attitude of the government,” he said. However,Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said it was the Speaker’s decision,and she has nothing to say in that regard.