NEW DELHI: BJP MLAs will continue their overnight protest at the Delhi Assembly for the second consecutive day to Tuesday to demand the sacking of AAP ministers over corruption charges.
The eight BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the House for the third day amid multiple adjournments and sloganeering by the leaders of both the ruling AAP and BJP.
On Monday, MLAs of both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP had staged an overnight protest at the assembly premises amid an ongoing war of words between the two parties on allegations of corruption.
AAP legislators are demanding the resignation of Delhi LG V K Saxena while the BJP lawmakers were pressing for the sacking of ministers Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia over alleged corruption allegations.
The AAP has accused Saxena of pressuring two of his subordinates to get demonetised currency notes worth Rs 1,400 crore exchanged during his term as the Khadi and Village Industries Commission chairman (KVIC) in 2016.
The BJP MLAs were marshalled out by Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla on Friday and Monday.
Multiple adjournments marred Tuesday's session, and around 2 pm, the session resumed during which Sisodia addressed the House.
Sisodia referred to BJP as the 'Bachcha Chor Party', apparently referring to the arrest of a BJP corporator in an alleged child kidnapping case, following which BJP legislators protested prompting Birla to marshal out everyone, except Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri.
Bidhuri, however, walked out in protest.
"I would have been also marshalled out later had I not walked out in protest. They wanted us to hear the 'pravachan' of their saint Manish Sisodia. It has been three days since they are using the Assembly for their publicity and not allowing Opposition to raise issues or question them," Bidhuri told PTI over phone.
He said the party members were demanding a discussion on the liquor and education "scams", but the deputy speaker not only ignored their demands, but also got them marshalled out of the House.
"BJP members had given notices for discussion on liquor scam and education scam in the house even today.
No explanation has come from the government till now on the liquor scam of thousands of crores," he said.
The Delhi government kept the CVC report on hold for two and a half years, despite it clearly stating about a scam in the construction of classrooms.
"The Kejriwal government is running away from discussion on both these issues. The MLAs of the ruling party continued to create hue and cry in the well of the House, but it is unfortunate that the BJP members were thrown out to suppress their voice."
"The Kejriwal government has no answer to these allegations, so they are not tolerating the opposition even in the House," he said.
Bidhuri said the MLAs will sit on a night-long protest for the second consecutive day near the statues of Chandrshekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru in the Assembly premises to demand a probe into various scams by the government ranging from the liquor to the DTC to the Jal Board scam.
Bidhuri said they have already written to President Droupadi Murmu over their "voices being throttled in Delhi Assembly" and have sought an appointment with her.
Earlier in the day, BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri had come to meet the party's eight MLAs who sat on a night-long protest but was stopped at the gate.
The Delhi Assembly's Secretariat had issued an order banning the entry of MPs and political party leaders in view of the tense situation prevailing due to the overnight protests by both the parties.
BJP supporters on Tuesday protested outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence in the Civil Lines area here over alleged malpractices in the Excise Policy 2021-2022.
Carrying party flags, the protesters raised slogans against Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia.
The police, however, stopped them from moving closer to the chief minister's residence.
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and BJP MP from South Delhi Ramesh Bidhuri also took part in the protest.
After protesting outside the Delhi chief minister's residence, the protesters marched to Raj Ghat where they will hold a dharna.
The South Delhi MP asked them to sprinkle 'Gangajal' on the way to Raj Ghat as "unholy souls" had been there.
The BJP on August 25 sprinkled 'Ganga jal' on Rajghat after AAP legislators had visited the memorial.
Ramesh Bidhuri said the saffron party will continue to raise its voice against the "ruling Aam Aadmi Party's corruption".
The BJP has been alleging that the Delhi government ignored recommendations of a three-member expert panel set up to reform the liquor trade in the capital and gave licences to companies that paid "hefty commissions" to the AAP.
It alleged that the AAP government did not follow the suggestions of its own panel to "gain an unfair advantage" in the Punjab polls and is now deflecting the BJP's questions on the issue.
The CBI is currently probing alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the Kejriwal government's new excise policy and has named his deputy Manish Sisodia, who holds the excise portfolio, as one of the accused in its FIR.
Earlier this month, the agency also conducted raids at the Delhi deputy chief minister's residence.
Meanwhile, Sisodia on Tuesday claimed he has answered all questions posed by the BJP about the excise policy and CVC report on classrooms and asked its chief JP Nadda when will the CBI probe the "source of money for operation lotus" in Delhi.
Speaking in the Delhi assembly, Sisodia also dubbed the BJP a "bacha chor" party while referring to the arrest of a BJP corporator in an alleged child kidnapping case.
After completion of CBI search of his lockers in a Punjab National Bank in Ghaziabad, Sisodia spoke in the assembly and said he has got a "clean chit" from the federal probe agency.
He also asked Nadda to answer when will the CBI launch a probe in corruption allegations against Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
Sisodia claimed that the money earned through Goods and services Tax (GST) imposed on food items such as curd, milk, lassi, honey was used by the Centre to waive loans of its billionaire friends.
"We have answered all questions of the Opposition. We can't answer lies being thrown by them. I want JP Nadda to answer my three questions when will CBI probe GST on food items like curd, lassi; source of money for operation lotus and Rs 1400 crore money laundering by LG VK Saxena?" Sisodia asked in the House.
The AAP has accused Saxena of pressuring two of his subordinates to get demonetised currency notes worth Rs 1,400 crore exchanged during his term as the Khadi and Village Industries Commission chairman in 2016.
The House was adjourned for the day till 11 am on Wednesday after Sisodia's address.
He also said that false news was planted that property papers were found from his locker during a CBI search.
"I have got clean chit from CBI. CBI people said they were satisfied with their probe in which nothing has been found, yet they are under pressure to arrest me. Only items worth Rs 70,000-Rs 80,000 including 'jhunjuna' (a toy) of my son was found in the locker by CBI," he said in the House.
Sisodia and his wife were present as a four-member CBI team conducted a search of his locker at the Punjab National Bank branch in Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of the national capital.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is among the 15 people and entities named in an FIR registered by the agency in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of Delhi government's Excise Policy 2021-22.
Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla marshalled outs all BJP MLAs except Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who also walked out in protest over uproar over Sisodia's "baccha chor party" remarks for the saffron party.
Sisodia was referring to the arrest of the BJP corporator and seven others in connection with the recovery of a seven-month-old child who was stolen from a platform of the Mathura junction six days ago.