New Delhi, May 31 (IANS): Sacked Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra on Wednesday reiterated in the Delhi assembly allegations of corruption against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendar Jain triggering chaos before he was marshalled out of the House. He later claimed that he was manhandled by AAP legislators.
The former Water Minister, who has been campaigning against Kejriwal levelling graft allegations against him, claimed he was “punched” and “kicked” by five or seven Aam Aadmi Party legislators.
The incident took place as Mishra insisted on being given a chance to speak in the House, convened to discuss the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.
Mishra also demanded convening of an open session of the assembly at Ramlila Maidan to publicly discuss the corruption charges and sought to display a banner demanding the special assembly session.
He was repeatedly warned by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel to desist but he did not relent.
TV visuals from the assembly showed Mishra being grabbed and prevented by a group of lawmakers and marshals from raising the banner.
A scuffle broke out in the House as BJP members tried to rescue the rebel AAP leader
As he refused to put the banner down, Goel ordered Mishra to be marshalled out of the House.
Talking to media persons outside the assembly, Mishra said he had written a letter to Goel on Tuesday, urging for the special public session.
“I wanted to discuss their corruption. When I did not get the opportunity, I called for convening a special session at Ramlila Ground. Suddenly the (AAP) MLAs rushed to me and started hitting me,” Mishra said.
“This is for the first time in an assembly that instead of marshals, MLAs are sent to assault another MLA,” said Mishra who was seen being dragged out of the house by AAP members.
He claimed he was punched in the chest and kicked in the back.
“Following a gesture by (Deputy Chief Minister) Manish Sisodia, several of the MLAs assaulted me,” said Mishra, adding that he could only identify two of the legislators -- Madan Lal and Jarnail Singh-- who attacked him.
Mishra said he would raise the assault issue with Lt Governor Anil Baijal and, on June 3 at the Constitution Club, he would present before the people the documents to prove wrongdoing by Kejriwal and Jain.
“I am not afraid of you, no matter how many goons you send, I will not be deterred, I will expose all your scams and corruptions,” Mishra said referring to Kejriwal.
Speaker Goel said both Mishra and the legislators who manhandled him may face action.
“Whatever happened today is unfortunate. What the MLAs did was wrong. One may do whatever he wants outside, but inside the assembly, one needs to maintain the discipline and decorum,” the Speaker later told the media, adding that other lawmakers may face action for their behaviour.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party both condemned the incident.
Congress spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee told IANS: “The AAP is using the brute force of its majority. After trying to suppress the voice of the opposition, they are now suppressing the voice of their own MLA.”
She said the attack was a crisis for democratic principles.
BJP leader R.P. Singh told IANS: “The LG should ask for all the records, including the video footage, and take appropriate action.”
Slamming Kejriwal over his silence on Mishra’s allegations, Singh said: “The issue was related to corruption and it was the reason why they are now behaving in such a manner.”
