South Corporation mayor Anamika on Thursday suspended Leader of Opposition (LoP) Prem Chauhan for allegedly disrupting the functioning of the House and creating ‘ruckus’ during a meeting. However, the LoP termed the decision dictatorial, saying that he was not allowed to speak on crucial matters and even called ‘Maoist’ by a BJP councilor.

The LoP said that the ruling party is trying to suppress the opposition's voice by not allowing councilors of the opposition party to speak. The BJP leaders said that the decision to suspend him was taken after he started disrupting the proceedings frequently.

The AAP, however, hit back saying that the corporation is riddled with corruption and the mayor does not allow them to raise their voice. “The AAP leaders were not allowed to speak and even BJP councillors misbehaved with me in the House by calling me ‘Maoist’, said Chauhan.

Describing the decision as unprecedented, the LoP said the ‘autocratic’ action was taken to prevent the opposition’s voice. “The mayor abruptly and intentionally did not allow me to speak on some of the matters related to public importance and the releasing of Rs 2100 as rent due towards North Corporation,” he said.

Chauhan said “I tried to raise two different issues. One was regarding the non-payment of the salary of the DTC drivers and the second one was regarding the non-releasing of funds for the North Corporation. Mayor did stop me from raising such points but our fight will continue for the rights of employees till the time BJP does not pay the salary of the employees.”

He also accused the mayor of threatening him during the House proceedings. “I removed the sticker pasted on the mayor's chair to protest against her behavior. She suspended me instead of allowing some time to speak,” he added.

Commenting on the issue, Vikas Goel, AAP councilor and LoP in North Corporation said "It is very unfortunate that the SDMC has not paid such huge money till now knowing that the salaries of employees of north civic body are pending for months. He demanded the SDMC to release the money immediately.

Senior AAP leader and MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak on Thursday said that Bharatiya Janata Party-led SDMC has not paid Rs 2137 crore to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

“We are witnessing that the employees of the municipal corporations are not getting their salaries for the past few months. At the time of COVID-19 pandemic, the doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, teachers and others had not received their salaries. These employees are protesting every day at the Civic Centre and other places but they have not stopped their work. The BJP ruled MCDs have treated their own employees very inhumanly,” he said.

Pathak also requested the Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta to immediately intervene and ask the South Corporation to release this money.