Delhi north civic body’s house meet suspended after ruckus

North corporation mayor Raja Iqbal condemned the ruckus and said the opposition parties are “only interested in disrupting the house”

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation House meeting on Tuesday descended into chaos and was suspended after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors accused the civic body of not giving timely salary to over 700 employees of the corporation, including teachers and doctors, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors tried to question the Delhi government’s new liquor policy.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors accused the civic body of not giving timely salary to over 700 employees of the corporation, including teachers and doctors, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors tried to question the Delhi government’s new liquor policy. (Representational image/HT File)

North corporation mayor Raja Iqbal condemned the ruckus and said the opposition parties are “only interested in disrupting the house”.

Refuting BJP’s allegations, Vikas Goel, leader of the opposition in the north civic body, said he was manhandled for supporting the civic body employees. “I was first manhandled by the guards at the entry point for carrying pamphlets in support of the employees who have not got their salaries for the last three months. Then, the BJP councillors were carrying liquor bottles in their hands. If they have any reservation about the liquor policy of the Delhi government, they don’t have any right to start a scuffle and misbehave with our women councillors. Their leaders use muscle power to create fear when anybody questions them,” he alleged.

Congress councillor and former leader of the opposition, Mukesh Goyal, accused the BJP of raising non-issues. “It (the house meeting) was scheduled to discuss vector-borne diseases and pending salaries of employees. But instead, they were raising slogans against the new excise policy. To conceal their failures, the BJP councillors always try to create a ruckus, to get the house suspended,” he said.

Mayor Iqbal said the BJp is considering filing a complaint. “The behaviour of the AAP councillors is condemnable. They don’t like to come forward for a healthy discussion on issues of development. We have called an urgent meeting of our party councillors to determine the course of action against AAP councillors. If a majority of them agrees to lodge criminal cases against AAP councillors, we’ll do that,” he said.