In many ways the Delhi Assembly is a lot like a baby playpen, with the speaker as the mother figure overlooking the troublesome toddlers aka Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The toddlers yell and scream, they run about, throw their toys and every once in a while end up in a tussle. At this point the mother figure has had enough and sends the disruptive children on a time-out. OP Sharma, Vijendra Gupta and Jagdish Pradhan, went through this ordeal during the first two days of the 2015 budget session.
On June 23, Sharma was marshalled out of the Delhi Assembly when he forcefully raised the issue of former Aam Admi Party (AAP) law minister Jitender Singh Tomar. He created a scene, approached the CM’s bench and tried to disrupt proceedings. He was subsequently thrown out of the building.
On June 24, he was joined by his fellow Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs on the way out. Gupta demanded the government table the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission report to improve the financial conditions of all three municipal corporations.
The AAP government refused to do so. They claimed the Central government had not released Rs 600 crore, which was to be given to the corporations.
The sanitation workers of East Delhi recently had gone on a 10 day strike over nonpayment of salary — due to this very reason.
“BJP leaders, whose party is at the Centre, should approach the central government and demand fund to improve the financial condition of all the three municipal corporations. If the Centre releases Rs 600 crore to Delhi government, we will immediately give it to corporations within 24 hours,” the Economic Times quoted Manish Sisodia.
Realising AAP was not going to back down the BJP MLAs decided the best way to get the attention they needed was to create a ruckus which will pique the interest of the media. Their antics led the marshals to enter the assembly once again and escort them out of the building.
So two days in a row, Sharma was thrown out of the Delhi assembly. He is now on the naughty list and will not be allowed to enjoy play time with the rest of his friends.
Watch OP Sharma get thrown out below.
Feature image source: PTI