The Delhi Assembly witnessed high drama on Tuesday as 21 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Atishi, were suspended for three days for disrupting Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena’s inaugural address to the newly constituted House. The suspension, proposed by Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Verma, was passed through a voice vote. The suspended MLAs will not be allowed to participate in the assembly proceedings on February 27 and 28.

The chaos began as soon as the House proceedings started, with Atishi and other AAP legislators protesting against the alleged removal of B.R. Ambedkar’s portrait from the Chief Minister’s office. The AAP MLAs accused the BJP-led government of disrespecting Ambedkar, raising slogans and creating a ruckus in the assembly.

Speaker Vijender Gupta expressed his disappointment over the disruptions, stating, “When the assembly session began, we hoped that both the ruling party and the opposition would work together for development, as today’s discussion was very important.”

With AAP having 22 MLAs in the Delhi Assembly, all but Okhla MLA Amantullah Khan were suspended. Khan was absent from the House during the proceedings.

Following their suspension, the 21 MLAs staged a protest inside the assembly complex, holding portraits of Ambedkar and chanting slogans like *”Babasaheb ka ye apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan”* (India will not tolerate this insult to Babasaheb) and *”Jai Bhim.”* At a press conference, Atishi lashed out at the BJP, saying, “The BJP has shown its true colours by removing Babasaheb Ambedkar’s portrait. Does it believe (PM Narendra) Modi can replace Babasaheb?”

AAP further alleged that Ambedkar’s portraits had been removed from both the Chief Minister’s office at the Delhi Secretariat and the Assembly premises. Speaker Gupta adjourned the assembly session until 11 am on February 27.

The BJP, however, refuted AAP’s claims, sharing photographs of the Chief Minister’s office to prove that portraits of Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, the President, and the Prime Minister were still displayed. “The portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, the president, and the prime minister are displayed in the offices of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and other ministers,” the BJP stated.

Delhi Minister Ravinder Indraj Singh criticized the AAP MLAs’ protest, saying, “This is not a protest. These AAP leaders are scared… They are trying to create unrest in the assembly instead of resigning. They are trying to hide something.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Singh’s Cabinet colleague Ashish Sood accused AAP of attempting to divert attention from corruption during its term in office. “Whenever AAP tries to create a ruckus, it is to cover up its corruption. The CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report will expose its wrongdoings,” Sood said.

The controversy had begun on Monday when AAP alleged that portraits of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh were removed from Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s office. The BJP, however, accused AAP of trying to distract people from the CAG reports set to be tabled in the assembly.

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