BJP, AAP spar in Delhi Assembly over Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh portraits

Atishi alleged that the BJP had disrespected BR Ambedkar by removing his portrait from the Chief Minister's office

New Delhi: Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta suspended 12 AAP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Atishi, from the House for the day for raising slogans during Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s address on Tuesday.

Among the AAP MLAs suspended were Atishi, Gopal Rai, Veer Singh Dhingan, Mukesh Ahlawat, Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed, Anil Jha, Vishesh Ravi and Jarnail Singh.

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Atishi alleged that the BJP had disrespected BR Ambedkar by removing his portrait from the Chief Minister’s office.

“The BJP has shown its true colours by removing Babasaheb Ambedkar’s portrait. Does it believe Modi can replace Babasaheb?” she said at a press conference.

She alleged that the BJP dispensation had removed Ambedkar’s portraits from the Chief Minister’s office in both the Delhi Secretariat and the Assembly.

The suspended AAP lawmakers later held a protest on the assembly premises with Ambedkar portraits, raising “Babasaheb ka ye apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan (India will not tolerate this insult to Babasaheb)” and “Jai Bhim” slogans.

Commenting on the AAP MLAs’ suspension, Delhi minister Ravinder Indraj Singh said, “This is not a protest. These AAP leaders are scared… They are trying to create unrest in the assembly instead of resigning. They are trying to hide something.”

Singh’s Cabinet colleague Ashish Sood alleged that AAP was attempting to divert attention from corruption during its term in office. “Whenever AAP tries to create a ruckus, it is to cover up its corruption. The CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report will expose its wrongdoings.”

On Monday, AAP alleged that portraits of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh were removed from Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s office.

However, the BJP accused AAP of trying to distract people from the CAG reports to be tabled in the Assembly.

The BJP shared photographs of the Chief Minister’s office, saying, “The portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, the President, and the Prime Minister are displayed in the offices of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and other ministers.”