JOIN USThe Delhi Assembly saw high drama on its last day of the session as BJP MLA O P Sharma smashed his mike on Tuesday over allocation of funds to IP University East Campus.
Sharma alleged that the mike was turned off, on the request of Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, to prevent him from speaking in the House.
During Question Hour, an AAP MLA from Laxmi Nagar Nitin Tyagi said that no degree college has been opened in the past 17 years in east Delhi.
“How much funds has been allocated to the IP University’s East Campus?” he asked the minister concerned.
To which Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia replied that Rs 271 crore has been earmarked in the 2015-16 Budget.
“No funds were allocated towards the construction of the university during last year when the city was under the President’s rule,” said Sisodia.
The opposition BJP took offence to the minister’s statement.
“Deputy CM jhoot bol rahe hai (deputy CM is lying),” said Sharma. “Here is a copy of the last year’s budget. It states that Rs 285 crore was allocated for IP University East Campus,” he added.
But the Speaker stood up and asked Sharma to take his words back. “You can’t say that a minister is lying. It’s unparliamentary,” Goel said.
Sharma continued with his tirade. “The minister should not mislead people of Delhi. He should do his homework properly before he says anything,” he added.
The Deputy Chief Minister responded to his remarks by saying, “This is a photchaap party; it can say or do anything. It spreads garbage so that it can take pictures showing that it is doing cleanliness work.”
When other AAP MLAs also joined, the Speaker had to stand up to pacify both sides. But Sharma would not listen, so the Speaker directed the staff to turn off his mike. Unable to make himself heard in the uproar, Sharma smashed his mike.
It prompted AAP MLA Somnath Bharti to move a resolution to impose a fine in case of defacement of property inside the House and recover the amount of the damage from defaulter MLA’s salary. The Speaker forwarded it to the disciplinary committee. Sharma was also earlier marshaled out of the Assembly during the Budget proceedings.