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.
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PM must resign when TMC wins Bengal: Derek O'Brien
Kolkata (PTI): Trinamool Congress's Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien on Wednesday expressed confidence that his party will come back to power in the state after the assembly elections and challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resign when the results come.
In a video shared on microblogging site X, O'Brien accused the prime minister of making exaggerated political claims and urged him to "accept the challenge" instead of indulging in "big talk."
"Narendra, you had announced that you are the candidate on all 294 seats in West Bengal. Leave out the big talk and accept this challenge..." O'Brien wrote.
He asserted that if the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC wins the state, the prime minister should step down from his post. "When Mamata Banerjee and TMC win West Bengal, you will resign from your post as the prime minister," he said.
The remarks come amidst an intensifying political contest in West Bengal, where the ruling TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party are engaged in a high-stakes electoral battle.
Polling is taking place in 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of the assembly elections on Wednesday, amid unprecedented security arrangements and a high-intensity contest that could decide whether the ruling TMC retains its dominance over the southern districts or the BJP can force open the gates of power in the state.
