Lalit controversy raises temperature in Delhi Assembly

Lalitgate controversy hit Delhi Assembly on Tuesday as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in his reply on the issue of former Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar’s fake degree case, demanded that the Prime Minister should oust his tainted Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

“I request the Prime Minister to seek resignations of Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje and conduct an impartial inquiry into the matter,” said Kejriwal. “It seems his ministers are keeping the Prime Minister in dark like I was kept in dark in case of Tomar,” he added. The Chief Minister was replying on the issue after BJP MLAs demanded his statement on Tomar case and forced the speaker to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.

“As the matter of his fake degrees came to light, I sought <g data-gr-id="32">explanation</g> from Tomar. He showed me some documents which prima-facie seemed that he had done nothing <g data-gr-id="31">wrong</g> but later I came to know I was kept in dark (by Tomar). As soon as he was arrested by police, the government removed him from the post of minister,” explained the Chief Minister.

He reaffirmed his commitment to eliminate corruption. “We have come to power to offer clean governance. We will not tolerate any wrongdoing. I do not have any relations with any MLA or minister. If things that have come out in media are true, then I think I was kept in dark (about Tomar’s degrees),” Kejriwal said. As the session of the House started on Tuesday, BJP MLAs demanded the statement of the Chief Minister on Tomar case but initially the government refused, which followed a chaos in the House and adjournment for 15 minutes.

When the house reassembled, BJP members raised the issue again. After some <g data-gr-id="36">time</g> Kejriwal indicated to the Speaker that he would give a statement in the house. But in the middle of his statement BJP MLA OP Sharma rushed menacingly towards the Chief Minister, following which the Speaker directed marshals to escort him out. In <g data-gr-id="35">protest</g> the remaining two MLAs of BJP staged a sit-in in the Well of the House till tea break at 4 pm.