By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The controversy surrounding Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Rekha Arya and her husband Girdhari Lal Sahu alias Pappu Girdhari echoed in the state Assembly on Wednesday, with opposition members mocking the latter’s allegation that the minister had amassed properties worth ₹210 crore through corruption by parodying a popular Bollywood song to attack the ruling BJP.
“Rs 210 crore ka jhumka kahan gira re?” opposition members sang, borrowing the line from the Bollywood song Jhumka Gira Re. Some members responded, “Bareilly ke bazaar mein,” referring to the Uttar Pradesh city where the couple allegedly built a palatial resort.
Speaker Ritu Khanduri was seen objecting to the use of the word “jhumka” by opposition members. “Please don’t use the word jhumka,” she told them.
The controversy erupted after Arya, Uttarakhand’s Women Empowerment and Child Development Minister, filed an FIR against her husband at Dehradun’s Cantonment police station on October 15, accusing him of physical assault, harassment, caste-based abuse, cheating, forgery and death threats. She also alleged that he had concealed his first marriage from her and shared an audio recording that she claimed contained a conversation about a conspiracy to kill her. Sahu has disputed the allegations and questioned the authenticity of the recording. The police have sent the audio for forensic examination.
Two days later, Sahu released a video accusing Arya of amassing illegal assets worth ₹210 crore through corruption and urged Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to order an investigation. He did not provide documentary evidence to substantiate the allegation in the video.
Arya rejected the corruption charges as baseless and said she was ready to face an investigation, asserting that her financial records were transparent.
The exchange in the Assembly brought the personal dispute between the minister and her husband into the political spotlight, with the opposition using the ₹210-crore allegation to target the ruling BJP government. The corruption claims remain allegations and have not been established.