BJP, AAP spar in Delhi Assembly over Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh portraits; 21 MLAs of Kejriwal camp suspended

New Delhi: Twenty-one AAP MLAs, barring Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, were suspended on Tuesday for three days from Delhi Assembly for disrupting Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena's address to the newly constituted House over alleged removal of a portrait of BR Ambedkar from Chief Minister's office, even as the government tabled a CAG report on liquor policy.

Leader of Opposition Atishi and 20 others were suspended from attending proceedings till February 28 while Khan escaped action as he was not present in the House when the protest by AAP MLAs took place. The motion to suspend the MLAs was moved by minister Parvesh Verma.

While February 26 is a holiday, the session will end on March 3. In the next few days, the government will be tabling the remaining 13 CAG reports in the House. The CAG report on liquor policy, which was tabled, indicted the previous Arvind Kejriwal government of causing a loss of Rs 2,002 crore to the exchequer.

As soon as the LG started reading his speech, AAP MLAs protested against the alleged removal of portraits of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from the Chief Minister's office. Speaker Vijender Gupta said, "when the assembly session began, we hoped that both the ruling party and the opposition would work together for development, as today's discussion was very important."

AAP MLAs staged a protest inside the assembly complex, holding Ambedkar's portraits. "The BJP has shown its true colours by removing Babasaheb Ambedkar's portrait. Does it believe (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi can replace Babasaheb?" Atishi said.

Minister Ashish Sood claimed that AAP was attempting to divert attention from corruption during its term in office. "Whenever AAP tries to create a ruckus, it is to cover up its corruption. The CAG reports will expose its wrongdoings," he added.

After AAP on Monday alleged that portraits of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh were removed from Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's office, the BJP shared photographs of the chief minister's office, saying that the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, the President, and the Prime Minister are displayed in the offices of Gupta and other ministers.

In his address to the House, Saxena said the Delhi government led by the BJP would adopt the Viksit Delhi Sankalp Patra as a guiding document to fulfil promises made to the people, as he outlined the government's vision and priorities for the capital city.

Continuous political clashes and blame games over the past decade had hindered Delhi's progress but the new government would work in coordination with the Centre and other states to ensure effective governance, the LG said.

"The primary objective of my government will be to dismantle the sub-par system concealed by extensive advertising and bring governance back on track," he said.