At least 12 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, including former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and senior leader Gopal Rai, were suspended from the Delhi Assembly on Monday following chaos over the tabling of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report on the now-scrapped liquor policy.
The session began with Lt Governor VK Saxena addressing the House, but his speech was repeatedly disrupted by loud sloganeering from AAP legislators against the BJP government. Speaker Vijender Gupta urged them to maintain order, but as the protests continued, he suspended the MLAs for the day.
Following their suspension, the AAP leaders staged a protest within the Assembly premises. Atishi accused the BJP of "disrespecting" BR Ambedkar by allegedly replacing his portrait in the Chief Minister's office.
"The BJP has shown its true colours by removing Babasaheb Ambedkar's portrait. Does the party believe that Modi can replace Babasaheb?" Atishi said, vowing to continue protests until the portrait was restored.
The suspended legislators chanted slogans such as "Babasaheb ka ye apman nahin sahega Hindustan" (India will not tolerate this insult to Babasaheb).
Meanwhile, the BJP-led government is set to table the CAG report on the now-defunct 2021-22 liquor policy, which allegedly involved financial irregularities. The controversy had earlier led to the arrests of AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, ex-minister Satyendar Jain, and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh.