New Delhi: The rift in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) re-surfaced on Wednesday after suspended party member Kapil Mishra was allegedly assaulted in the Delhi legislative assembly.
The Delhi assembly had met for a special session to pass the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.
Mishra was escorted out of the assembly by marshals after a tussle with members of legislative assembly (MLAs) belonging to AAP.
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“I was not allowed to speak. The moment I attempted to speak, four to five AAP MLAs started hitting me. It is perhaps for the first time that MLAs have been used to muffle a dissenting voice inside the House,” Mishra told reporters outside the assembly.
The members approached Mishra after he raised a banner in the assembly alleging corruption charges against AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendra Jain. He said a special session of the assembly be held in Ramlila Maidan to discuss the allegations.
The assembly speaker criticised the incident.
“Whatever happened today inside the Delhi assembly is unfortunate. I am deeply disturbed with the incident. Whatever they (AAP MLAs) did was wrong. The MLAs should not have left their seats,” speaker Ram Niwas Goel told reporters.
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Mishra, a former cabinet minister, was suspended from the AAP after he raised corruption allegations against Kejriwal.
The Delhi assembly unanimously passed the GST Bill on Wednesday.
“In principle, the bill is okay. There are discussions that need to be done on a procedural level which will be taken up at the (GST) Council,” deputy chief minister and finance minister Manish Sisodia told the assembly.
The assembly also proposed that GST tax rates on any goods or services should not be more than 10%
PTI contributed to the story.