AAP and BJP exchange barbs over portraits, meeting ‘leak’

Delhi Assembly gallery will feature portraits of V.D. Savarkar, Dayananda Saraswati, and Madan Mohan Malviya

 NEW DELHI

 The Delhi Assembly has issued breach of privilege notices to Leader of the Opposition Atishi and three other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs for allegedly leaking internal discussions from a General Purposes Committee (GPC) meeting that adopted a proposal on installing portraits of “national icons” in the Assembly premises.

The notices, issued on Thursday, follow a complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs and come amid a controversy over the proposed installation of a portrait of pioneering educator and social reformer Savitribai Phule.

BJP complaint

While the BJP accused AAP of distorting facts and violating protocol by publicly misrepresenting a verbal suggestion as a blocked proposal, AAP leaders hit back, alleging that the BJP’s “casteist mindset” was behind the refusal to honour Phule, and slammed the notices as an attempt to “suppress their voices”.

According to the formal complaint filed on May 22 by Deputy Speaker Mohan Singh Bisht, BJP chief whip Abhay Verma, and party leaders Raj Kumar Bhatia and Tilak Ram Gupta, AAP members made a passing suggestion about Phule’s portrait but falsely portrayed it as a rejected proposal.

“We were shocked to find out that AAP twisted facts and claimed during a press conference that the ruling party opposed their proposal to include Mata Savitribai Phule’s portrait,” the complaint stated.

BJP leaders argued that revealing the committee’s internal deliberations was a “serious breach of privilege” and accused AAP of pursuing a “political and mischievous agenda”.

“There was no written proposal,” said Assembly officials, who confirmed that the matter was raised only verbally. Instead, the committee approved portraits of V.D. Savarkar, Dayananda Saraswati, and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, as announced by Speaker Vijender Gupta following the GPC meeting on Wednesday.

A senior Delhi Assembly official called the AAP’s remarks false, misleading, and politically motivated, and warned of possible action. The Secretariat urged media caution on reporting privileged proceedings. Speaker Gupta declined to comment.

The Assembly Secretariat has asked Ms. Atishi, along with AAP MLAs Kuldeep Kumar, Veer Singh Dhingan, and Chaudhry Zubair to submit written responses to the complaint by May 30.

AAP counter

Reacting strongly, former Deputy Speaker and senior AAP leader Rakhi Bidlan accused the BJP of harbouring a “patriarchal mindset”.

“This is not just political arrogance, it is a direct insult to the legacy of India’s first Dalit woman educator,” Ms. Bidlan said, vowing that AAP will not allow the BJP’s disdain for social icons to prevail.

“When our MLAs tried to bring the issue to the public through the media, a dictatorial attitude was adopted, and four MLAs were served notices. Mata Savitribai Phule is not an ordinary personality. She opened the first school for girls in 1848,” Ms. Bidlan said.

Mr. Kumar echoed the sentiment, saying demanding the portrait of the Dalit teacher in the Assembly is such a “grave offence” that they were served privilege violation notices. 

“Perhaps, in the BJP’s eyes, this is a crime punishable by hanging,” he added.