Delhi Homeless Deaths: Matter Sent To Assembly's Privileges Committee

The matter related to the BJP's allegation that 203 homeless people have died in the city this winter was on Monday sent to the Privileges Committee of the Delhi Assembly for a probe.

Citing a Delhi Police report, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri shared the figure on Friday during the ongoing Winter Session. AAP MLA from Burari, Sanjeev Jha, referring to Bidhuri's statement, said he checked the Delhi Police website and found month-wise data on the number of deaths of homeless people in Delhi from June to December 15.

"When I saw the cause of death... And these are unidentified people whose data is kept, it was mentioned as accidents or injuries, among other factors," Jha said.

Jha said the matter raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party amounts to a subject of "privileges" and accused the saffron party of trying to mislead the House and people of Delhi.

The AAP leader termed the matter as "sensitive" and urged Speaker Ram Niwas Goel to send the matter to the Privileges Committee.

Goel then put Jha's proposal before the House which referred the matter to the Privileges Committee for a probe.

Bidhuri on Friday gave a notice for a calling-attention motion on the alleged death of 203 homeless people in Delhi during the ongoing winter season.

"We demand that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal provide answers on the issue in the House," Bidhuri said.

The Speaker, however, rejected the motion, saying he would look into the Delhi Police report and then take a decision. The issue had resonated inside and outside the Delhi Assembly on Friday.

Hitting back at the BJP, Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had said the photos (of the deceased) are from November when winter was yet to set in in Delhi. 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)