Pandemonium struck the Delhi Assembly at the beginning of this Monsoon Session as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pointed fingers at each other over the boiling issues concerning the two parties at different levels in the media right now.
While the BJP demanded discussion on the death of the three sanitation workers in South-east Delhi, the AAP targeted the party (BJP) over the Chandigarh stalking case in which the Haryana BJP president's son is allegedly involved.
Speaker Ram Niwas Goel mentioned the Chandigarh stalking case to which the leader of the Opposition (lOP) Vijender Gupta objected and demanded a discussion on the recent death of sanitation workers who were cleaning a sewer line in lajpat Nagar.
While Gupta was joined by other BJP legislators, the Speaker accused them of "disrespecting" women by "opposing the condemnation" of the stalking incident.
As Gupta and the other three BJP MlAs came in the Well of the House, the AAP legislators followed raising slogans in support of the woman who resisted her alleged stalkers in Chandigarh. They also wore badges to register their support to the woman. The 29-year-old woman was stalked through the streets of Chandigarh on her way home late on Friday night, allegedly by the BJP leader's son and one more person.
When Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tried to reply to Gupta over the death of workers, the House was adjourned for 15 minutes. When the House met again, Sisodia said that there is a standing instruction that sewage should be cleaned mechanically, but the contractor allowed manual cleaning of the sewers. “The investigation is going on in this case. If anyone is found guilty, strict action will be taken,” Sisodia said.
Three weeks ago, four sanitation workers died of suffocation while cleaning a septic tank in south Delhi's Ghitorni area. Five men had gone down to clean the tank in a household in the area but did not come out for long.
However, AAP and BJP MlAs continued to indulge in shouting slogans against each other over stalking case and death of sanitation workers. The House was adjourned again for half an hour as the legislators stayed in the well despite the Speaker asking them to go back to their seats.
After the AAP legislators returned to their seats, the BJP legislators were marshaled out of the House by the Speaker.
The Speaker asked the marshals to first escort Gupta and then the BJP MlA Majinder Singh Sirsa. The other BJP MlA Jagdish Pradhan returned to his seat.
The BJP has four MlAs in the 70-member Assembly. Its lawmaker O P Sharma was not present as he was earlier suspended for two sessions.