Delhi assembly: AAP accuses LG of interfering in govt work; speaker suspends 5 protesting BJP MLAs

NEW DELHI, (PTI): Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Tuesday suspended five BJP MLAs for the day after they protested against AAP MLA Atishi’s calling attention motion on the issue of alleged ”illegal interferences” of Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena in the education of children and training of teachers.

BJP legislators Ajay Mahawar, Jitendra Mahajan, OP Sharma, Abhay Verma and Anil Bajpai were marshalled out of the House on Goel’s directions. Introducing the calling attention motion, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Atishi said Delhi is the only state which has earmarked a quarter of its budget for education.

The Kejriwal government has increased the budget for training of teachers by 10 times which has transformed the education system in the capital, she said. ”The LG’s order to stop teachers from training in Finland is illegal. He holds a constitutional post and is not a BJP agent. He doesn’t have power to take independent decisions according to Supreme Court orders,” Atishi said.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed officers were obstructing works at ”the behest of the BJP-appointed LG while the BJP MLAs are alleging that Delhi government is not able to work”.

The people of Delhi are irritated with the BJP for creating hurdles in the Kejriwal government’s works, he said. BJP MLAs on Tuesday wore black clothes and turbans to the Delhi Assembly to protest against alleged corruption and scams of the AAP government and demanded that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal resign from the post. Mahawar alleged corruption in the purchase of buses, excise policy and the work of the Delhi Jal Board.

He said the ”dishonest” government of Kejriwal is shielding Manish Sisodia ”accused of gross corruption” while one of his ministers, Satyendar Jain, is in jail on corruption charges. This is the second day of the three-day session of the assembly that started on Monday.

Amid protest by MLAs of the ruling AAP against Lieutenant Governor Saxena’s alleged interference in the working of the city government, the assembly saw repeated adjournments on the first day of the session and hardly 10 minutes of proceedings could be held. (PTI)