The Delhi BJP on Tuesday asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to remove two MLAs — Akhilesh Pati Tripathi and Sanjeev Jha from the party after a city court convicted them in a case related to a mob attack on a police station in Burari in 2015.
The conviction of the two AAP MLAs comes at a juncture when the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is at loggerheads with BJP over a number of issues including the Delhi liquor scam, 'Operation Lotus' and allegations against LG AK Saxena.
In a video statement, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta asked the Delhi CM to not only sack Jha and Tripathi from AAP but also the Assembly. Accusing AAP leaders of violating the Constitution, he dubbed the conduct of the aforesaid legislators 'shameful'. Gupta remarked, "Once again, the ugly face of AAP has been exposed.
AAP leaders, MLAs, Ministers indulge in corruption, hooliganism, and rioting. Their corporators are held guilty and sent to jail. AAP talks about morality and honesty. But they are not even removed from the party. Today, the AAP MLAs have been held guilty in a case pertaining to rioting and attacking police. This is very shameful for democracy."
Later addressing a press conference, Gupta said that Kejriwal always behaves like ‘muh mein Ram bagal mein churi’. Once again, the disgusting face of the AAP has come before the people. Today, not only Delhi, the whole country has come to know that how AAP's MLAs, ministers and leaders indulge in corruption and hooliganism and do not even shy away from assaulting the police. He said that Kejriwal, who talked about not taking a bungalow or a car, now flies by a chartered plane. In the fact is in the last eight years, Kejriwal has only been doing gimmicks. Today they have nothing to show for their work. Therefore, to divert the attention of the public, Kejriwal is adopting various tactics.
The leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri also demanded to remove both the MLAs from the AAP with immediate effect. “This is the true face of the Arvind Kejriwal’s party and their MLAs,” Bidhuri said. Bidhuri said that the AAP has become an army of goons. In an embarrassment for AAP, its Delhi MLAs Sanjeev Jha and Akhilesh Pati Tripathi were convicted for rioting and attacking policemen in a case dating back to 2015. While Jha is a two-time MLA from Burari, Tripathi has won from Model Town since 2013. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vaibhav Mehta held that the prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the AAP MLAs had indulged in sloganeering and provoked the crowd which encouraged them to get violent. This resulted in stone-pelting thereby causing injuries to policemen Bharat Rattan, Mohan Lal and Babu Lal.