New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) Eight Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs were marshalled out of the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday after they raised slogans demanding the resignation of Food Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa over an alleged “rice scam”, sparking a war of words between the BJP and the opposition party.
AAP had been protesting against Sirsa since the start of the session, alleging a rice scam by the Delhi government. Sirsa denied the allegations and threatened to file a defamation case against the opposition leaders.
Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said instead of getting angry and trying to “intimidate” the MLAs, Sirsa should answer their questions on the movement of a proposal for subsidised rice and asked why it remained pending in his office for three months before being forwarded and approved on the same day.
Soon after the House resumed proceedings after a lunch break, AAP members started raising slogans holding placards demanding Sirsa’s resignation.
“This will not be tolerated. This is very irresponsible behaviour of the Opposition. They have tried to disrupt the session continuously over the past three days,” Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta said while directing the marshals to take the AAP MLAs out.
PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh claimed that AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar “threw something towards the officials present”. “This is not acceptable behaviour and the marshals should throw them out immediately”.
The MLAs sent out of the House were — Sanjeev Jha, Jarnail Singh, Kuldeep Kumar, Som Dutt, Ajay Dutt, Virendra Kadyan, Surinder Kumar and Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed.
Sirsa refuted the AAP’s allegation. He claimed that AAP was rattled and had no issues to raise after the Delhi government had rolled out the promised Delhi Lakshmi Yojana under which eligible women will be provided Rs 2,500 monthly assistance.
“We did not buy or sell any rice. We had a representation from a company. I only wrote ‘maybe considered as per rules’. There is no real issue left with the Opposition. I will take them to court in a defamation matter,” the minister said inside the House.
In a post on X, Bharadwaj addressed Sirsa directly and said, “Don’t be so angry. A responsible minister should calmly answer the opposition’s questions. Don’t try to intimidate by threatening court action. We have some questions, please answer them.” The former minister questioned how the proposal for subsidised rice, which had allegedly remained in Sirsa’s office for three months, was suddenly forwarded and approved by the department on the same day and also sent to the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
He also asked why the proposal was not sent to the head of the food department, but instead to a junior officer.
Bharadwaj further questioned why the government had not informed the public about the distribution of such a large quantity of rice.
“Such a large quantity of rice was being distributed — why didn’t you or CM Rekha Gupta share this information with the public?” he said.
He also raised questions over an earlier allocation of 31,000 metric tonnes of rice, asking whether Sirsa had sought details about its distribution before forwarding another proposal the following month.
“After the Corporation received 31,000 MT of rice once, you forwarded the rice proposal again the next month. Didn’t you ask who the rice went to, how it was distributed, or when it was distributed?” Bharadwaj said.
The Delhi BJP, however, defended Sirsa and said the government had neither purchased nor sold any rice.
“Our government neither bought any rice nor sold any rice. We received a representation from the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation. On it, just two lines were written – ‘May be considered as per rules and regulations.’ What more can a minister write besides this?” the Delhi BJP said in a post on X.
Sirsa also hit back at the AAP. “The problem with AAP folks is that the BJP government had promised to give Rs 2,500 to sisters. They (AAP) brought this issue to the assembly saying Rs 2,500 isn’t being given. They used to make an issue out of Rs 2,500 every day. Now that the issue itself has been snatched away, they’re flailing around like madmen,” Sirsa said. PTI VBH RT
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