Four BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the Delhi Assembly on Thursday, August 17, for protesting against a discussion on Manipur — their contention being the problems in the Northeastern state is beyond the jurisdiction of the Delhi Assembly.

AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak began a short-duration discussion on the violence in Manipur, following which BJP MLAs Abhay Verma, Jitender Mahajan, Ajay Mahawar and O.P. Sharma rose to protest, saying issues related to Delhi should be debated in the House. The Kejriwal government does not want to discuss that and is raising Manipur instead, they said.

#WATCH | Delhi: BJP workers protest after 4 BJP MLAs marshalled out from Delhi Legislative Assembly pic.twitter.com/SSMTIgl4Sm

— ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2023

Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla asked the protesting BJP MLAs, "Do you feel that Manipur is not an issue to be discussed in the Assembly? The UP Assembly also discussed the Manipur issue." However, the BJP MLAs carried on, following which four of them were marshalled out of the House.

This prompted other BJP MLAs, including Vijender Gupta and leader of the Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri to stage a walkout from the Assembly.

"Only issues related to Delhi can be discussed in Delhi Assembly. Discussion on Manipur has been done in Parliament. They are running away from discussion. When we raise the issues of Delhi they marshal us out," Bidhuri said.

Vijender Gupta claimed that the Kejriwal government is trying to suppress the voice of the Opposition. "We've staged a walkout from Assembly. We are demanding a discussion on 'Sheesh Mahal' and on the issues of Delhi," he added.

O.P. Sharma, one of the MLAs who was marshalled out, repeated the sentiment. "This govt (Delhi) doesn't want to talk on issues of Delhi, today we said that Manipur issue is being discussed in Manipur Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha. In Delhi Vidhan Sabha, issues related to Delhi issues need to be raised… There is corruption in every department of Delhi government... Manipur issue is beyond the jurisdiction of Delhi Assembly..." he said.

Abhay Verma complained that there are plenty of issues related to Delhi which they wanted to bring in, but Kejriwal is raising the Manipur issue.

"This Vidhan Sabha session is for discussing Delhi but Kejriwal is raising Manipur issue... Delhi roads are in pathetic condition, Yamuna river is polluted, air pollution is increasing, and there are a lot of issues related to Delhi but they don't want to discuss it... as per Rule 55, I raised 'Sheesh Mahal' issue in the Assembly and asked for a discussion but they were not ready forit," he added.

MLA Jitendra Mahajan said, "There should have been 7-8 days of Delhi Vidhan Sabha session but they called for two-day session and then there will be discussion on Manipur instead of Delhi issues... we want discussion on 'Sheesh Mahal', corruption, condition of DTC buses and Delhi schools."

"BJP MLAs are clearly saying that they don't have any relation with Manipur. It's PM Modi's message that they don't have any relation with Manipur. PM is silent on the Manipur issue. 6,500 FIRs have been registered, over 150 killed but PM remained silent," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reacted on the protest and walkout by other BJP MLAs.

As the ruckus prevailed, AAP’s Pathak said it was unfortunate that the BJP did not want a discussion on Manipur. AAP legislators, led by Pathak, also raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)