BJP MlA Om Prakash Sharma was suspended for two days on Tuesday after he made derogatory remarks against Aam Aadmi Party MlA Alka lamba.
However, even after the suspension order, all women MlAs stormed into the Well of the House and held a dharna demanding Sharma to be suspended for the whole Winter Session.
Also demanding an apology from Sharma, the women MlAs said as long as he stays in the House, no woman MlA would attend the House proceedings. Expressing shock over Sharma’s comments, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Am shocked at language used by O P Sharma, BJP MlA, against a lady MlA. 2 days back also, he abused a lady MlA. Hope BJP will act against him (sic).”
leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta alleged that lamba slapped Sharma and asked for an apology.
Rejecting his contention that lamba slapped Sharma, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, however, agreed that even the AAP MlAs crossed the boundaries of the House in their reaction. He said even he wanted to get up from his seat and take drastic actions against Sharma because of the “derogatory word” he used against a woman.
Sharma later alleged that Goel is acting in a biased manner and is giving undue favour to AAP MlAs. He further said Goel has “lost his mental balance”.
Meanwhile, unprecedented scenes were witnessed in the Assembly as women MlAs protested raising placards against Sharma and slogans were raised against both Sharma and Gupta. With AAP MlAs not allowing the House to function till Sharma was suspended for the whole session, the House was twice adjourned for 15 minutes and eventually had to be adjourned till Thursday.
The drama ensued after Vijender Gupta moved a calling attention motion on night shelters for homeless people in the city. He pointed out that 402 deaths of homeless people have been reported this year under Kashmiri Gate police station area against 221 deaths last year. lamba countered the charge saying the deaths were due to drug use and not due to the cold prompting Sharma to make a personal comment against lamba.
Sharma was heard calling lamba “Raat bhar ghumne wali”( (who roams about at night), implying that’s how she knew how homeless people were dying in the night. However, AAP MlAs claimed that he also used the word ‘Bazaaru’, thereby inviting strong reactions from all the MlAs of the ruling party, including the Speaker.
Immediately after the comment, which drew strong condemnation from the Speaker, AAP MlAs stormed into the Well of the House demanding Sharma to be suspended. Alka lamba even approached Sharma and was seen having a heated exchange with him. Sharma later claimed that she slapped him.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also responded to the comments inside the Assembly and said this is the first time in the history that all moral boundaries have been crossed in such a way in any State Assembly.
However, BJP MlA and leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta demanded Sisodia to apologise on behalf of lamba alleging that she physically assaulted Sharma. “If something wrong has been done by any member of the Opposition, I will apologise on his behalf and even ask him to apologise. But I ask ruling party MlAs to also apologise for physically assaulting a respected member of the House. And if they do not do that, I ask Deputy CM to apologise on their behalf,” he said alleging that not only Sharma was slapped by lamba, but was also attacked with cuss words.
Meanwhile, Goel said Sharma had constantly been using derogatory terms against lamba like, goondi, for the last four days of the Session, but he crossed all limits on Tuesday.
“Deputy Chief Minister has demanded the matter to be sent to Ethics Committee and I have agreed to the demand,” he said. Meanwhile, no business could be conducted in the House in the second half.