A monkey on Thursday dodged armed security personnel, swiftly slipped between the legs of marshalls standing at the doors and darted towards the treasury side from the end of the opposition benches at the Delhi Assembly.
Within minutes, all the doors of the House were bolted. But the simian had made its escape by then, leaving the members stunned.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta were present in the House, which was discussing the issue of guest teachers, when the incident happened around 4 pm.
But it is not just monkeys. According to sources in the Assembly, snakes are frequently caught slithering across the sprawling expanses of the chamber of the 70-member House.
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"On the first day of the ongoing session, two snakes were caught before the proceedings began. Officials of the forest department routinely sanitise the premises before each sitting and snakes are routinely found," an official said, requesting anonymity.
His parting words were unsettling. "The snakes were caught were small. The larger one is at large."
Pursuant to the decision to transfer the capital to Delhi, the Assembly or the Old Secretariat Building, designed by E Montague Thomas, used to host the Legislative Council of the British Raj.
Its construction was completed in 1912. The first sitting of the Legislative Council was held at its chamber on January 27, 1913.
