AAP councillors of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation said on Wednesday that they will stage sit-down protests during all meetings of the civic body till action is taken against the BJP councillor who attacked his AAP counterpart at a meeting on Monday.
Protesting on the steps of the Civic Centre, AAP councillors held placards demanding that an FIR be filed against Surendra Singh of the BJP who was caught on video trying to punch an AAP councillor. They also sought the resignation of the Mayor. Leader of Opposition Anil Lakda said the ‘‘behaviour of the BJP’s goonda councillors was a murder of democracy’. AAP councillor and Standing Committee member Vikas Goel, who was attacked on Monday, sat on the floor throughout Wednesday’s Standing Committee meeting. It was meant for opposition councillors to discuss the budget. Sitting on the floor next to him was BSP councillor Jai Bhagwan.
Mr. Goel said, “The BJP had no problem taking action against opposition councillors in the past. They should do the same with members of their own party. The Mayor, after all, is everyone’s Mayor and is in-charge of running the civic body.”
Stating that the charges were being probed, Standing Committee chairperson Veena Virmani accused the opposition councillors of staging protests because they had nothing to contribute to civic body’s discussion. Mr. Goel argued there was no point in taking part in discussions if the opposition’s voice was not being heard. “This is the third time such an incident has happened,” he claimed.
