Paper missiles fly in Delhi Assembly
Protesters hurled paper missiles in House; Opp. slams jail term
New Delhi: Two men claiming to be AAP supporters hurled “paper missiles” at Delhi minister Satyendar Jain from the gallery of the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday. The two reportedly raised graft allegations against Mr Jain.
◗ One of the protesters is a former AAP member and had contested from the party in 2013
Ruckus broke out in the Delhi Assembly session on Wednesday when two men, claiming to be AAP workers, levelled corruption allegations against health minister Satyendar Jain and hurled torn bits of pamphlets. Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel later ordered one-month jail for the two men for disrupting the House proceedings. The men were later detained by the Delhi police.
The men in question, wearing headgear, were sitting in the Visitors’ Gallery when suddenly they threw paper missiles inside the House and raised “Inquilab Zindabad” slogans. Soon after the interruption, the security whisked them away even as AAP legislators demanded strict action against the two men for violating the sanctity of the House.
They were then allegedly detained and beaten up inside Assembly and amid chaos, rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra made a PCR call. One of the protesters, identified as Jagdeep Rana, who was beaten up inside the Delhi Assembly is a former AAP member and had contested from the party in 2013. The other protester is reportedly an AAP member from Punjab. The injured were then rushed to the hospital.
In the note found printed inside the paper missiles, the duo have claimed that they were AAP workers and took the step as they were unhappy with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party and the alleged “corruption cases” against Delhi minister Satyendar Jain.
As the duo were being taken away, some of the AAP MLAs, including Nitin Tyagi, Amanatullah Khan and Jarnail Singh, stepped out of the House amid scenes of uproar and chaos. As the duo were being taken away by security personnel, some of the AAP MLAs then jumped on to these men and allegedly thrashed them.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP and Congress criticised the one-month prison term handed to the two visitors.
Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said the sentence was “harsh and against the spirit of democratic values”.
Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta felt it was strange that the “offending” visitors were ordered to be jailed for 30 days by the speaker but “not a word” was said against the AAP MLAs “who took law into their hands”.