Speaker must resign on moral grounds: Vijender Gupta

New Delhi : Claiming that Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel had failed to maintain dignity of the House, Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta sought his resignation from the post.

A Delhi Court on Friday awarded six-month jail term to Goel for trespassing on the house of a realtor in an East Delhi colony in 2015. However, the Aam Aadmi Party said Goel entered the house along with the SDM, a day before the elections after it they got to know liquor was distributed. "We will challenge the verdict in the upper court," the AAP said.

However, Gupta said Goel must quit on moral grounds. "He failed to maintain dignity of his constitutional post," Gupta said, adding, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is equally responsible as he elevated an MLA charged for criminal offences to the post of the Speaker.

"He protected him during the entire duration of the House knowing well of his offences. He is guilty of overlooking his criminal offences. It establishes that he is soft towards the serious offences of his party colleagues," Gupta said.

The LoP said that it is for the first time that a sitting Speaker has been convicted of criminal offences. He questioned Kejriwal as to how did he make his MLA the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, responsible to control all MLAs in Vidhan Sabha, "despite knowing that a criminal case was going against him for forcibly entering a builder's house".

He also said Goel no longer has any "moral right to be the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly". He said that the AAP came to power in the name of eradicating corruption and establishing the rule of law.

"But in the last 56 months, the true face of the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs and their other leaders has been fully exposed. They are involved in serious cases like possessing fake degree, sexual exploitation, and domestic violence."

Gupta said that in February 2015, Goel and his supporters raided a builder's house in Delhi's Vivek Vihar area on suspicion of having a liquor and blankets for distribution during elections. "They forcibly entered builder's house and had also scuffle with the labourers working there."