New Delhi: A high-voltage drama erupted in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday when sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra was manhandled by the Aam Aadmi Party members after he raised allegations of corruption against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendar Jain.
The former water minister who has been campaigning against Mr Kejriwal, levelling graft allegation against him, later claimed he was “punched” and “kicked” by five-seven Aam Aadmi Party legislators after he demanded an open session of the Delhi Assembly be convened at Ramlila Maidan to publicly discuss the corruption charges. Mr Mishra hurled a banner inside the House demanding the special session of the Assembly, following which he was warned by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel. When he refused to relent, Mr Goel ordered Mr Mishra be marshalled out of the house.
Before the marshals could reach Mr Mishra, he was manhandled by the AAP MLAs. He was later taken out of the House by marshals. While Speaker Goel said both Mr Mishra and the legislators who manhandled him may face action, the Congress and the BJP condemned the assault.
Talking to the media outside the Assembly, Mr Mishra said he had written a letter to Mr Goel on Tuesday, urging for the special public session. “I wanted to discuss inside the Assembly about 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,” Mr Mishra told the media outside the Assembly.
“This is for the time in an Assembly, that instead of marshals, MLAs are sent to assault another MLA,” Mr Mishra said who was seen being dragged out of the House by AAP members.
He claimed he was punched on the chest and kicked in the back. “Following a gesture by (deputy chief minister) Manish Sisodia, several of the MLAs assaulted me,” Mr Mishra said, adding that he could only identify two of the legislators — Madan Lal and Jarnail Singh — who attacked him.
Mr Mishra said he would raise the attack issue with lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal and on June 3, at the Constitution Club here, he would present before the people the documents to prove the wrongdoings of Mr Kejriwal and Mr 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 corruption,” he said.
“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.
