AAP-Opposition battle intensifies

After the ruling AAP lodged an FIR against BJP's protest outside Chief Minister's office, the opposition on Wednesday slammed the state government for taking "repressive, undemocratic" steps to swoop down on it.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government lodged an FIR on Wednesday to probe the "dharna" by BJP members outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's office at Delhi Secretariat in June.

The protest led by Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa and suspended AAP MLA Kapil Mishra involved putting up banners at the rooftop and an indefinite hunger strike against the "non-performance" of the Kejriwal government and its failure in providing water to the people.

When asked about the FIR, Vijender Gupta, BJP MLA O.P. Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan, along with Kapil Mishra told the media that the Delhi government is taking "repressive steps out of nervousness due to all-around attack by the opposition".

Gupta said that the "opposition too will lodge an FIR" to probe the dharna by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and two cabinet Ministers at Raj Niwas in June this year.

Gupta said that the opposition is being suppressed as part of a deep-rooted conspiracy to stifle its voice both in and outside the Delhi Assembly.

"The Delhi Government is frightened by the opposition and is trying to silence us because we are raising the issue of Bangladeshis, the case against Transport commissioner Varsha Joshi and we are exposing corruption," Gupta said.

Rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra also questioned the intentions of the Kejriwal government by saying, "When the Chief Minister sits on dharna at the LG office, it is right but when the opposition sits at a protest at CM's office it is illegal?"

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Gopal Rai alleged that the opposition members "forcibly entered" the Delhi Secretariat and even "threatened the guards" when they were stopped from going further.

"On inquiry, the General Administration Department said that they had reported the protest to Delhi police but the police shrugged off the matter by saying that it was not responsible for any internal matter. The security guards also admitted that they were threatened by the protestors," Rai said.

He said that this is the main reason why his government has decided to file an FIR with the police to launch a probe into what exactly happened at the Delhi Secretariat.

--IANS

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