New Delhi: The ongoing session of the Delhi Legislative Assembly witnessed high drama on Thursday with Leader of Opposition Atishi leading a dharna by suspended AAP MLAs after allegedly being denied entry into the house while BJP legislators submitted proposals to rename Najafgarh and Mohhamadpur.
Hitting out at the BJP, Atishi said the ruling party is “crossing all limits of dictatorship” after coming to power. Speaking to reporters, she said police saying AAP MLAs are banned from the Delhi Assembly premises.
“They are saying that they have orders from the speaker to stop the AAP MLAs at the gate. It has never happened in the entire parliamentary history of the country,” she added.
Why were AAP MLAs suspended?
Shortly after the House proceedings commenced on Tuesday, Atishi and other AAP MLAs staged a protest against the alleged removal of B. R. Ambedkar’s portrait from the Chief Minister’s office. Speaker Vijender Gupta responded by suspending 21 AAP legislators for disrupting Lt Governor V. K. Saxena’s inaugural address to the newly constituted House.
In a post on X, Atishi stated, “AAP MLAs were suspended from the House for three days for raising slogans of ‘Jai Bhim’. And today, they are not even being allowed to enter the Vidhan Sabha premises. This has never happened in the history of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.” On Tuesday, 21 out of 22 AAP MLAs, including Atishi, faced suspension.
The suspensions coincided with the Delhi government tabling a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the liquor policy, further escalating the political clash between AAP and the BJP.
Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan was the only AAP legislator exempted from suspension, as he was not present in the House during the protest. The suspension motion was introduced by minister Parvesh Verma.
BJP MLAs demand renaming Delhi constituencies
Neelam Pehelwan, the BJP MLA from Najafgarh addressed the house, demanding renaming of her constituency to “Nahargarh”.
बीजेपी विधायक नीलम पहलवान ने की दिल्ली के नजफगढ़ का नाम बदल कर नाहरगढ़ करने की मांग #Delhi | #BJP | #Najafgarh pic.twitter.com/J1kPD65ivb
— TV9 Bharatvarsh (@TV9Bharatvarsh) February 27, 2025
“In the 1857 revolt, Raja Nahar Singh fought and included the Najafgarh region in Delhi’s territory. Despite several efforts, including through the then MP Parvesh Verma, we tried to change the name of Najafgarh to ‘Nahargarh’,” she said in the House.
RK Puram MLA Anil Sharma, too, submitted a similar request as he sought to rename Mohammadpur to Madhavpur, claiming it is a demand of the local people.
