Cong objects to Speaker campaigning

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 12

The Congress today hit out at Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur for setting a wrong precedent of allowing the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker to campaign for the BJP candidates.

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Kuldeep Rathore said: “I was surprised to hear that Thakur had justified Bindal’s involvement in the bypoll campaigning saying that in many other states too, Speakers had campaigned,” he said.

Rathore sought action by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the Chief Minister’s statement. He said the Chief Minister’s defence of Bindal indicated as if he was himself encouraging Bindal to campaign actively.

“If Thakur and the party are in such a dire need of campaigning for the candidates, Bindal should be removed from the post of Speaker and be inducted as a minister, as there are vacancies in the Cabinet,” he said.

“Even when some previous governments in Himachal had a wafer-thin majority, Vidhan Sabha Speakers never actively took part in campaigning during the elections for party candidates,” Rathore said. “The ECI should take immediate action against Bindal if it wants to act in a fair and impartial manner,” he added.