Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Feb 25: In a significant move, 21 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators were suspended from the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday for disrupting Lt. Governor V.K. Saxena’s address—marking the largest such action in over a decade.

Former Lok Sabha and Delhi Assembly Secretary S.K. Sharma attributed this unprecedented suspension to the overwhelming majority held by AAP, which has left the Opposition with limited representation. “Previously, the maximum number of suspended MLAs was eight, primarily because the BJP never had more legislators than that in the House,” Sharma explained.

Suspensions of opposition lawmakers have been common in Delhi’s legislative history. Sharma recalled that since the 1993 tenure of Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana, entire opposition groups have often been suspended collectively, though the Speaker did not always name each individual. He emphasized that such suspensions are in line with parliamentary conventions, where legislators supporting a colleague being expelled often face the same action.

Historically, larger opposition groups were seen in the Assembly, such as in 2013 when the BJP held 31 seats. Since 2015, however, their presence has been minimal, with just eight and, at one point, three BJP legislators in the House.

Sharma criticized the AAP government for eroding long-standing parliamentary traditions in the Delhi Assembly. He lamented the decline of structured debates, the sidelining of opposition voices, and the discontinuation of key parliamentary practices like private member bills and Question Hour. “The Assembly has been reduced to a platform for attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi rather than engaging in meaningful discourse,” he said.

He expressed hope that the new BJP government under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and the L-G would restore parliamentary decorum, reintroducing structured debates, resolutions, and bills. Sharma also recalled a past incident when marshals struggled to physically remove a well-built Sikh legislator from the House, highlighting the challenges faced during Assembly proceedings.

With this latest suspension, the Delhi Assembly’s legislative practices are once again under scrutiny, raising questions about the balance between governance and opposition rights in a democracy.