BJP's Sharma suspended for two sessions

New Delhi: BJP MLA O P Sharma was on Thursday suspended for the next two sessions of the Delhi assembly after he refused to apologise to the House for having used derogatory language against Aam Aadmi Party legislator Alka Lamba in November, 2015.
The assembly's ethics committee had recommended his expulsion. However, after he expressed "regret" on Thursday, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia moved a resolution to suspend him.
"Based on the report of the ethics committee, members want Sharma expelled. On the other hand, the CM has proposed that if he apologises and promises not to repeat such behaviour again, the matter should be put to rest. Keeping both these sentiments in mind, I propose that he be suspended for the next two sessions of the assembly," said Sisodia.
Sharma, who refused to apologise, walked out of the assembly after saying that he "regretted" his statement. He, however, challenged the complaint against him saying that on November 24, 2015 he was stopped in the middle of a statement in which he was trying to praise Lamba.
"The first half of the statement was taken out of context. Had I been allowed to complete it, you would have known that I was praising Lamba for stepping out at night and taking on anti-social elements," he said.
Sharma had called Lamba a "raat ko ghoomne wali". This had happened a few days after she had stormed into his sweets shop near ISBT and threw down the cash register alleging that someone from the shop had thrown a stone at her. Subsequently, the House was disrupted till Sharma was suspended for the remainder of the session and the complaint forwarded to the ethics committee.
The report, tabled in the House on Wednesday, says that Sharma never accepted his mistake and changed his account of the day's happening frequently.
The three BJP MLAs staged a walkout demanding a discussion on the report after MLA Bhavna Gaur introduced the motion to expel Sharma. Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta, who was later summoned back, said that the ethics committee had not done its work properly and the government had already pronounced Sharma guilty before the report was presented in the House.
"Jagdish Pradhan and I were both sitting next to him that day, but neither of us was called for any hearing. Tempers flared that day and some AAP MLAs charged at us at the behest of Sisodia," said Gupta. "I had also submitted a complaint, but no action was taken on it. We will not become small by apologising, but the three opposition MLAs should not be bullied by the 66 AAP legislators. Sisodia should also apologise on behalf of the MLAs for hurting our sentiments," he added.