Asked to clear stand on farm laws, BJP MLA stopped from speaking in Punjab Assembly

Chandigarh, March 3 

Ruling Congress and opposition SAD members on Wednesday prevented BJP MLA Arun Narang from speaking in the Assembly, asking him to clear his stand on the Centre’s farm laws first.

Narang was participating in the discussion on the Governor’s address on the third day of the Budget session of the Punjab Assembly when Congress MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy interrupted him.

Goldy was joined by Congress legislators Navtej Singh Cheema and Gurkirat Singh Kotli. Some Akali Dal MLAs, including Pawan Kumar Tinu, also protested against Narang.

The protesting legislators said BJP MLAs had no right to speak in the House as they had stayed away when the amendment bills to “counter” the central farm legislations were passed in the Punjab Assembly last year.

Harpartap Singh Ajnala, who was at the Speaker’s chair at the time, tried to calm the situation. But as the legislators continued to protest, Ajnala asked Narang to sit down.

Talking to the media later, Goldy, a legislator from Dhuri, asked why BJP MLAs should be allowed to speak when the saffron party was not listening to the farmers protesting the farm laws.

Farmers mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh have been camping at Delhi’s borders, demanding a repeal of the farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for crops.

The ruling Congress has backed the agitation. PTI