A fire at a Chandni Chowk market triggered a war of words between the BJP and the AAP today over the role of ruling party MLA Alka Lamba who had climbed onto a hydraulic crane of the fire brigade during the dousing operation.
The BJP filed a police complaint against Lamba accusing her of "hindering" operations, while the MLA said that she was being called to the site to "manage" the crowd after the blaze broke out in Moti Bazar of Chandni Chowk late last night.
Lamba said she had reached the spot at 11 pm after receiving a call from the local market association.
"At around 2 am after the blaze was largely extinguished, fire officer Rajesh Pawar asked me as the area MLA to help in managing the crowd.
"The local BJP councillor had made situation unruly by shouting slogans against me while I was trying to control the crowd," the Chandni Chowk MLA claimed.
The BJP termed Lamba's act of climbing into the crane as "mischievous" and said it hindered the operations and delayed the process, increasing the risk of spreading the fire.
"She did so solely for a photo opportunity and made a complete drama of the incident," BJP leader Nupur Sharma, who lodged a complaint with the police, said.
The party also demanded the registration of a criminal case into the incident.
G C Mishra, director, Delhi Fire Services, also came out in support of Lamba and said that the MLA neither participated nor disrupted firefighting.
He said there was a hostile crowd who told her that the firemen weren't working. She saw the firefighters at work from different locations.
"The public also told her that there is a big fire on the top floor which hasn't been doused yet. But we told her that it had been controlled. We took her on a hydraulic lift to see the operation," the officer said.
Due to a technical snag, the lift got stuck for a few minutes, Mishra added.
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