NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs on Monday staged a protest outside the Delhi Assembly, carrying out what they described as a “funeral procession of democracy” to protest the suspension of party legislators and accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of suppressing the voice of the opposition.
Leader of Opposition Atishi alleged that the BJP government was trying to stifle democratic debate in the Assembly by suspending opposition members and preventing them from raising public issues.
“The BJP is bent on killing democracy. Today, we are standing outside the Delhi Assembly. The Assembly is a temple of democracy where the voice of the people is raised and both the ruling party and the opposition put forward their views, ” Atishi told IANS.
She claimed that the opposition was not being allowed to speak in the House and termed the suspension of AAP MLAs as an attack on democratic principles.
“If the voice of the opposition is suppressed and opposition MLAs are expelled from the Assembly for one or two months simply for raising the voice of the people, it means democracy has been murdered, ” she added.