New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANS) Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Thursday referred the issue of constructing a fake “Fansi Ghar (Gallows Gallery)” for public viewing by the previous AAP government to the Privileges Committee of the House, paving the way for questioning of former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the matter.
Gupta referred the entire issue to the Privileges Committee of the House for an in-depth investigation in the backdrop of repeated sharp exchanges between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over facts surrounding the so-called “Gallows gallery” on the Assembly premises.
The Committee shall summon Kejriwal, former Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and former Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla, said an official statement.
While ordering the enquiry, Speaker Gupta said, “Tampering with a heritage building, misrepresenting a historical structure as gallows or a tunnel, and attempting to falsify history constitute an unforgivable crime against the truth. This House, in the strongest possible terms, condemns this grave act of distortion and deceit.”
The referring of the matter to the Committee follows three days of exchanges between BJP legislators and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs over a “Gallows gallery” created by the previous government for visitors to the Assembly.
While the BJP legislators have contested the fact that the gallows is real, the AAP legislators have insisted that the ruling party is trying to protect the British narratives.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has accused former CM Kejriwal of misleading people and staging drama to prove his “patriotic credentials”.
On Thursday, Speaker Gupta said, “After several days of sustained discussion in this House, supported by verified facts and documents, it has been conclusively established that crores of rupees were spent on constructing a fake gallows and disseminating misleading advertisements within the Delhi Legislative Assembly complex.”
“When the so-called gallows was constructed in 2022, coinciding with the commemoration of the Quit India Movement on August 9, my own emotions, along with those of fellow Opposition members, were stirred with patriotic sentiment,” he said.
Gupta said after assuming the office of Speaker, and upon receiving verified documents from credible research institutions and national archives, it became painfully clear that this so-called gallows was a complete fabrication.
He said the Opposition, which was the ruling party at the time this misrepresentation occurred, was requested by the House to present any concrete evidence justifying the construction of such a structure.
“However, despite being given three days, they failed to provide any logical or factual justification. Their continued silence has further strengthened the conclusion that this was a deliberate and fraudulent act,” he said.
In contrast, authenticated documents received from the National Archives of India, including a 1912 map of the Assembly premises, along with research conducted by various esteemed institutions such as the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), historians from Delhi University and JNU, the MCD Heritage Cell, Delhi Archives, and other independent historians, have collectively confirmed that no gallows ever existed in this building, nor was there any tunnel leading from the Assembly premises to the Red Fort, as falsely claimed, he said in a statement.
–IANS
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