Jail term not democratic, say Cong, BJP

New Delhi, June 28

Opposition BJP and Congress today criticised the one-month prison term handed to the two visitors, who threw paper missiles in the Delhi Assembly while a session was under way, saying it was "against" the spirit of democracy.

Congress chief Ajay Maken said the sentence was "harsh and against the spirit of democratic values".

The Assembly witnessed a high drama today after the duo, identified as Jagdeep Rana and Rajan Kumar, created a ruckus in the House, following which they were allegedly thrashed by some of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators.

BJP chief Manoj Tiwari described the incident as an "outcome of arrogance" of the ruling party leaders.

"Today's violence, following a small incident of democratic demonstration by the two visitors, shows that the Kejriwal government is averse to any kind of protest," he alleged.

Maken, a former Delhi Assembly speaker, said the same AAP, which used to stage demonstrations and protests even at the "slightest pretext", handed down a "harsh" punishment to the protesters who were "peacefully" opposing its government.

"The AAP had given membership to a man (Jarnail Singh) who had thrown a slipper at P Chidambaram. He was given a party ticket to contest the Assembly election. This shows the contradiction in the words and deeds of the party," he said.

Rana and Kumar were subsequently handed a one-month rigorous jail term by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, the most stringent punishment he could order, after the House unanimously adopted a motion moved by AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj in this regard.  — PTI