AAP MLAs hold a night-long protest against the L-G, under the Gandhi Statue at the Delhi Vidhan Sabha, August 29, 2022. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)The Delhi Assembly became the site of an overnight protest by the AAP and the BJP as both parties traded charges through the day – and decided to continue the face-off after hours.
Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party were protesting against what they allege was “corruption” and “money laundering” by L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena during demonetisation. The party’s MLAs have sought a CBI probe against Saxena, who has been at loggerheads with the Delhi government.
Gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi statue a little before midnight, AAP MLAs including Atishi and Durgesh Pathak sang ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’ as party leader Rohit Mehraulia strummed the guitar and Dilip Pandey played a drum.
“The face of the protest may change in the coming days but the protest will not stop until action and a CBI probe is started against the L-G… He has been accused and he himself headed and investigated the case. Such things don’t happen anywhere, not even in Somalia, but it is happening here in India… They have levelled allegations against us – first liquor, now classrooms… They are asking why have you constructed 8,000 classrooms, you should have constructed only 4,000… If constructing schools and classrooms are wrong, then arrest us now and put us behind bars, we are ready to go to jail,” Pathak told The Indian Express.
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Atishi demanded that Saxena step down from his post.
At one point, AAP MLA Somnath Bharti got paan and a carton of apples for those gathered, as many settled down for the night. Apart from mattresses, mosquito nets were set up in anticipation of a humid night.
Bharti also walked over to the protesting BJP MLAs and asked if they had water and fan arrangements. The BJP MLAs had gathered under the statue of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.
The BJP has been on the offensive against the AAP on two fronts – the now-scrapped excise policy and an alleged scam in construction of classrooms. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia heads the excise and education portfolios.
BJP MLA O P Sharma, who was also at the Assembly, told The Indian Express: “We will attend the session tomorrow straight from here at 11 am and they will marshal us out at 11:15 am.” He called AAP leaders “deshdrohi and urban naxals” and said they did not want to engage in discussion despite having 62 of 70 MLAs.
His party colleague and Leader of Opposition in the House, Ramvir Bidhuri, said, “We are just 8, but brought the 62 down here at the Vidhan Sabha. When you have a world class policy, why can’t you let us speak? Answer our query, discuss the matter, point out if we are wrong; why are you running away if you have a world class policy?”