"Being suspended from House doesn't, mean being suspended from premises": Atishi as AAP stages protest outside Delhi assembly

New Delhi [India], February 27 (ANI): After being denied entry into the Delhi Vidhan Sabha premises, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, along with other AAP MLAs, staged a protest outside the Assembly on Thursday, holding 'Jai Bhim' placards, as she criticised the move as "undemocratic and unconstitutional."
The Delhi Assembly LoP questioned why suspended legislators were being barred from entering the premises despite precedents from Parliament and state assemblies allowing such access and asserted that elected representatives have the right to be present in the Assembly complex even if they are not permitted inside the House.
Speaking to ANI, Atishi said, "Police officers are saying that we (AAP MLAs) are suspended from the assembly, so we will not even be allowed to enter the assembly premises. This is undemocratic and unconstitutional... To date, this has never happened in the history of the country... Even in Parliament, there are protests under the Gandhi statue even after being suspended... After all, how can we be stopped? We tried to talk to the Speaker but nothing was happening."
She cited examples of other legislative bodies, and said, "If you see Delhi Legislative Assembly, Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, elected legislators are never stopped. Even when suspended in Parliament, an elected parliamentarian is never stopped. Therefore, protests often take place in Parliament even after being suspended under the Gandhi statue. Often even in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in opposition, they used to protest under the statue of Gandhi ji under the statue of Ambedkar."
Reiterating her stance, she added, "We are suspended from the house. Being suspended from the house does not mean that we are suspended from the assembly premises. We are elected legislators. We have the right to go to the assembly premises. How are we being prevented from going to the assembly premises?"
On Tuesday, Tensions escalated in the Delhi Assembly as Speaker Vijender Gupta suspended 12 AAP MLAs, including Atishi, and AAP MLA Gopal Rai amid an uproar ahead of the tabling of the CAG report. (ANI)