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Chandigarh mayor suspends 13 AAP members over argument with MP Kirron Kher
Mayor Anup Gupta says action taken after AAP councillor Jasbir Singh used derogatory remarks against Chandigarh MP and PM Modi; AAP members accuse Kher of abusing Kejriwal first, triggering altercation
Mayor Anup Gupta on Tuesday suspended all 13 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors from the MC General House meeting for a day after they had a heated verbal spat with local BJP MP Kirron Kher and got them forcibly removed.
Gupta said the action was taken after AAP councillor Jasbir Singh used unparliamentary language about Kher and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Instead of feeling apologetic, he said, the other AAP councillors supported their party colleague, leading to their suspension.
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Jasbir claimed that the MP used abusive words and made derogatory remarks about AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and him. “While speaking on the setting up of a new waste processing plant in Chandigarh, the AAP members were asking the ruling BJP to give details of the total tax money of people spent on the dumping ground so far. To this, the MP came to my seat and said ‘ask Kejriwal to give details of the money spent on his sheeshmahal (house)’. She then used abusive words against Kejriwal and went back to her seat. When I objected about it to the House, I used the words that she said but the mayor suspended me instead of taking her action into account,” Jasbir said.
Kher, however, claimed that it was Jasbir who started using abusive language first: “When asked about taxpayers’ money used to build Kejriwal’s house, he used abusive words for the Prime Minister. I was stunned at first, but then I reverted with the same words for Kejriwal. But Jasbir started blaming me for hurling another abusive word that I never used. AAP was trying to defer the meeting, as they do not want to set up a new garbage plant for residents’ welfare.”
After the marshals forcibly evicted the 13 AAP councillors from the House, they held a protest outside the meeting room and demanded an apology from Kher.
Later in the day, the councillors submitted a written complaint to the Chandigarh Police against the MP, and demanded action against her for using abusive and derogatory remarks.
In a similar action during the MC House meeting in December 2022, the mayor had suspended eight councillors and five more – four from the AAP and one from the Congress – were removed from the House by marshals.
Planned move by BJP: AAP
AAP councillors said the ruckus was a planned move by the BJP to pass the agendas without voting.
After the AAP councillors were evicted, the BJP members hurriedly passed all three key agendas on solid waste management in the city, including setting up of the new integrated waste processing plant. This was MC’s second special House meeting on solid waste management.
The three agendas included the proposed plans to set up a temporary composting plant at the Dadumajra dumping ground for two years to process city’s fresh wet waste and an integrated waste management plant at Dadumajra for 15 years; and creation of temporary posts for the solid waste management cell for one year.
“Once again there was a shameful uproar in the MC House meeting. However, all this was pre-planned by the BJP and happened under a conspiracy so that the anti-people agenda of setting up a garbage processing plant at Dadumajra could be passed by removing the AAP councillors from the House,” said Prem Garg, president, Chandigarh AAP.
“Kher’s abusive words against AAP councillor Jasbir Singh were highly inappropriate and unfortunate, and not in accordance with the dignity of her position. In the past too, she has used words like ‘dangar’ for councillors and ‘chitar ferne chahiye’ for the people of Hallomajra. Utmost decency is expected from the MP of a city like Chandigarh,” he added.
AAP and BJP hand in glove: Congress
The Congress claimed that the BJP intentionally created drama to evict AAP councillors and approve the agendas without voting, adding that they were not given a chance to speak.
“The AAP is the B-team of the BJP and they created ruckus to fool people. Congress councillors had come with full preparation on these agendas, but as soon as we started the debate, the AAP councillors immediately started arguing with BJP councillors and nominated councillors began raising unnecessary issues. Using this as an excuse, the mayor called the marshalls and suspended AAP councillors, so that the BJP can pass the agendas with low opposition,” said Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh Gabi.
Meanwhile, the mayor, later during a press conference, said, “People’s welfare is more important for us rather than their petty politics. We cannot make people suffer more by delaying setting up of the waste processing plant. It was rejected by them in the last House meeting too. For how long can we keep it on hold.”
Voting may have led to agenda getting deferred
In the 35-member MC House, the BJP has a clear majority with 14 councillors, one more than AAP’s 13. The Congress has seven seats and the Shiromani Akali Dal one.
Since AAP and Congress councillors wanted more details about the new integrated waste processing plant, and were opposing the agenda in the Tuesday meeting, voting would have taken place to check majority.
Had the AAP and the Congress united against the agenda with their 20 votes out of the total 36 (including one vote of MP as MC’s ex-officio member), the agenda would not have been passed.
Will contest 2024 elections, says Kher
During the meeting, Kirron Kher announced that she will be contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections again from Chandigarh. She made the statement after AAP and Congress councillors alleged that the BJP government failed to clear the Dadumajra dumping ground during the nine years when it was in power and was finally tackling the issue now ahead of the general elections next year.
Kher said it was her initiatives that had ensured her victory for the second term in 2019: “Had we not done anything in the first five years, I would have not been re-elected. The first plant that failed to process city’s garbage was set up by the Congress. I will contest the elections again and will send details in writing about everything I did for the city in these years.”
