BJP MLAs suspended from House, cry foul

Graft allegations against CM not sub judice suddenly

Charged with disrupting House proceedings and indulging in slogan shouting, BJP MLAs were suspended from any further proceedings on Wednesday from the four-day monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly.

Opposition MLAs were protesting against chief minister Sheila Dikshit being allowed to make a statement in the House rebutting allegations of corruption in Commonwealth Games 2010 projects.

The opposition justified its action as Speaker Yoganand Shastri had not allowed Dikshit to make any statement on the issue on Tuesday, citing that the matter was sub judice.

When Dikshit got up to read her statement after Question Hour, opposition members opposed her and started shouting slogans against Congress and its leaders.

When they did not stop despite adjourning the House for 15 minutes, transport minister Ramakant Goswami moved a proposal to suspend opposition MLAs for the remaining period of the session, following which Shastri asked marshals to remove them from the House.

The session concludes on Friday. Of 24 BJP MLAs, 21 were present on Wednesday.
The BJP on Tuesday had demanded a discussion into allegations of corruption against Dikshit in the wake of a court holding as “maintainable” a complaint against her in a CWG graft case. But the request was refused.

Reacting to their suspension, leader of opposition V K Malhotra said the Speaker is biased and plays into the hands of Congress.

“We were silenced by the Speaker, saying the matter was sub judice. Suddenly, the
matter is no longer sub judice today. When we opposed this discrimination, we were suspended,” Malhotra said.

‘False allegations’

In her statement, Dikshit termed the allegations frivolous and untrue, and that not a single case has been filed against any minister or official in CWG cases.

“The Delhi government has worked in a transparent manner and made records available to all the agencies concerned, including the CAG, Shunglu Committee, CTE, CBI and CVC.

  The government has also promptly given detailed replies to issues raised by these agencies, and the CBI has till date not filed a single chargesheet against any officer of the Delhi government, leave alone ministers,” she said.

Later, Dikshit said being the leader of the House, according to rules, she has the right to make a statement any time she like. She said BJP does not believe in constitutional institutions and has been stalling House proceedings without any reason.