: The Ethics Committee of the Delhi Assembly has submitted its report to the Speaker on BJP MLA O.P. Sharma’s conduct in the House in connection with the passing of ‘sexist remarks’ against AAP legislator Alka Lamba during the winter session last year.
Sources said that the committee had recommended expulsion of the Vishwas Nagar MLA from the House. “He is a habitual offender. The committee, on several occasions, asked him to apologise but he didn’t. He has temper issues but the House cannot tolerate anyone outraging the modesty of a woman, even if he/she is an AAP legislator,” said sources.
In November last year, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel had suspended Mr. Sharma for this very conduct. The Speaker had then referred the matter to the Ethics Committee of the House for further probe.
Mr. Goel confirmed that he has received the report. “I have got the report but it is still sealed. We will try to table it on Wednesday, as the budget will also be discussed. On Thursday, it will definitely be tabled,” he said. As per the summary of the proceedings available for Wednesday, the Ethics Committee report is not listed.
Sources said that after the report was tabled, the House would vote and if approved, Mr. Sharma would lose his membership from the House.
Mr. Sharma said that if he was expelled from the House, he would move court. He said that since the Ethics Committee had all AAP MLAs, “I won’t be surprised if they expel me”.
However, this isn’t the first time that Mr. Sharma is in the dock for his behaviour. In December, the Delhi Assembly had passed a resolution to recover Rs. 18,560 from his salary towards the cost incurred in replacing a mike he had damaged during a Budget session in June 2015 and had warned him not to repeat such action.
“The AAP MLAs are after me. They also harass the other two BJP legislators in the Assembly. We aren’t allowed to speak; our words are taken out of context and then used against us. They turned off my mike while I was speaking, and when I checked it, it came off. Similarly, what I said about Alka Lamba was in a good way, because she goes on surprise checks at night,” said Mr. Sharma, a first-time MLA.
Mr. Sharma said that he wouldn’t be surprised if he was expelled from the House
