Delhi MLAs tie protective mask on Mahatma Gandhi’s statue

Anti-pollution masks on the statues of Gandhiji and his followers at Gyarah Murti in Delhi by the rebel AAP MLA Kapil Misra (left) and BJP-SAD MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa (right). (Source: PTI Photo)

Two Delhi MLAs Wednesday tied a protective mask on the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, registering their protest against the Delhi government’s ‘non-utilisation’ of environment fund to combat air pollution. Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Kapil Mishra, before being stopped and detained by the police, managed to put on one mask on the statue of Gandhi and another on that of a woman at Gyarah Murti sculpture near Mother Teresa Crescent on Saradar Patel Marg.

The legislators were later released by the police. Sirsa, a SAD-BJP MLA, said that it was ‘shocking’ that the Kejriwal government collected Rs 787 crore of environment cess but spent only Rs 93 lakh out of it.

“People of Delhi are suffering from a serious crisis due to air pollution but Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is busy in his dramatics and running away from every responsibility,” Sirsa said. Kapil Mishra is a suspended MLA of Aam Aadmi Party.

Anti-pollution masks on the statues of Gandhiji and his followers at Gyarah Murti in Delhi. (Source: PTI Photo)

The Gyarah Murti sculpture including eleven statues depicts Dandi March of 1931, with Mahatma Gandhi leading men and women including some prominent leaders of the national freedom movement.