Ruckus over cow meat: BJP MLAs suspended,marshalled out of House

The ruckus started soon after the Question Hour,when Leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Malhotra raised the issue of cow slaughter in the city. On Tuesday,300 quintals of cow meat and severed cow heads were found close to RK Puram.

The Opposition created a furore,claiming the government has not constituted a board under the Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act,1994,to check cow slaughter. “Under the Act,if somebody is found serving beef or storing beef,they can be imprisoned for 10 years. But this government is not enforcing the law despite the legislation,” said Malhotra.

“Where has so much of cow meat come from? Cow slaughter is happening in the city and beef is being consumed illegally at hotels and other establishments,” Malhotra said.

The BJP leader added that this incident is merely a warning sign and “such incidents can turn really volatile”.

Soon after Malhotra’s speech,the entire Opposition walked into the well of the House,shouting slogans and pointing fingers at the Vidhan Sabha Speaker Yoganand Shastri. With no sign of the protestors cooling down,Shastri adjourned the House at 3.20 pm for 15 minutes.

Even after the House resumed operations,the situation did not change as the Opposition continued to raise slogans. Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely then moved a motion mentioning the names of all the BJP MLAs to bar them from the House for three days.

As the Opposition MLAs refused to go out,Shastri asked the marshals to remove the MLAs from the floor of the House. Kirari MLA Anil Jha even lay down on the floor of the House and had to be physically removed by marshals.

In another development in the House,Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the government would implement the 27-per cent reservation for OBCs in all educational institutions run by it in a phased manner and would write to the Centre for inclusion of the Jat community in the Central OBC list.

Replying to a discussion on a motion to provide reservation to OBCs in educational institutions as well as the employment sphere,Dikshit said the government has already started providing 15 per cent OBC reservation in government-run educational institutions.

“We have to increase it to 27 per cent. We will do it in a phased manner in the next two-three years. We will have to upgrade the infrastructure in educational institutions so that general students do not suffer. Currently,27 per cent reservation is being given in employment,” she said.

With inputs from PTI