Reportedly 8 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs were forcefully marshalled out of the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday afternoon following the launch of an intense protest over a
potential Rs.22,000-crore ration fraud. The legislators demanded the immediate resignation of Food Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, alleging massive irregularities in the distribution of heavily subsidised rice meant for the city’s poor residents.
The uproar peaked amist the Monsoon Session when opposition MLAs entered the well of the House holding placards, carrying bags of rice, and chanting anti-government slogans.
Speaker Vijender Gupta ordered the immediate eviction of the eight lawmakers—Sanjeev Jha, Jarnail Singh, Kuldeep Kumar, Som Dutt, Ajay Dutt, Virendra Kadyan, Surinder Kumar, and Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed citing “inappropriate conduct” and continuous disruption of legislative business.
The Aam Aadmi Party claims that the Food Supplies Department facilitated a racket where 31,000 tonnes of subsidised rice, intended for Delhi’s underprivileged, was allocated weekly to an Assam-based marketing corporation. AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that instead of reaching Delhi’s poor, the grain was illegally diverted and sold to a private firm in Haryana at double the price, netting approximately ₹70 crore in weekly commissions.
The ruling administration completely rejected the claims as false, fabricated, and malicious. Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa denied any wrongdoing and threatened to file a defamation suit against AAP leadership. Public Works Department Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh further escalated the confrontation, accusing AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar of throwing rice at House officials and contempt of the House. Concurrently, the government pointed to recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports to accuse the previous AAP administration of long-term financial discrepancies.
News Edit KV Raman
