AAP to hold night-long protest at Delhi Assembly, demands CBI probe against L-G in alleged Rs 1,400-crore scam

Aam Aadmi Party MLAs will hold a night-long protest at the Delhi Assembly premises, demanding a CBI probe against Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena for allegedly changing banned currency notes during his term as the KVIC chairman, PTI quoted sources as saying. 

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party are up in arms against the LG after AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak alleged in the Assembly on Monday that Saxena had pressured his employees to exchange demonetised notes worth Rs 1,400 crore in 2016, when he was the chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

No reaction was immediately available from the LG office over the allegations. It could further spur the relations between the ruling party and LG who last month recommended a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in Excise policy of Kejriwal government.

Raising slogans against LG and carrying placards, AAP MLAs came into the well of the House, prompting Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla to suspend assembly proceedings for 15 minutes. They were demanding Saxena's removal from the post of Delhi Lt Governor.

"When he was KVIC chairman he got exchanged demonetised notes by pressuring his cashier. In Delhi branch alone, Rs 22 lakh were gotten exchanged. There are 7000 such branches across the country which means there was a scam of Rs 1400 crore," said the ruling party.

AAP MLAs demanded a CBI and ED probe in the matter and demanded his resignation and arrest. Carrying placards of 'LG V K Saxena Chor hai', 'V K Saxena ko arrest Karo', they also protested at the Gandhi Statue in the Assembly complex.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tabled a confidence motion in the Delhi Assembly, saying it was meant to prove that the BJP's 'Operation Lotus' may have been successful in other states but it failed here as all AAP MLAs are "hardcore honest".

He said the BJP could not poach any of the AAP MLAs. He also alleged that the BJP will try to topple the Jharkhand government in the next 15 days.

Kejriwal said the current central government is the "most corrupt" as it is "buying MLAs" by taxing the common people, while it is waiving loans of its billionaire friends.

Last week, LG Saxena sought a report from the Delhi chief secretary over a delay of more than 2.5 years in acting on the report which found gross irregularities and procedural lapses in execution of the projects.

Hitting out at the Kejriwal government for tabling the confidence motion, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said it is a "misuse of public money and resources".

He said 62 of the 70 MLAs in the House belong to the AAP and yet they brought a confidence motion and got it passed in the Assembly.

"What do you think of the people of Delhi? It is sheer misuse of public money and resources. If you have to bring a motion, then bring one on the corruption done in the construction of classrooms in schools," Tiwari said.