Speaker ‘stifling’ our voice in House: Cong

Unruly scenes were witnessed on the second day of Budget session in Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Monday as the Opposition accused the Speaker of “stifling” their voice.

The Congress legislators twice walked out of the House in protest against its MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira being “denied” the opportunity to speak.

As soon as the zero hour began, the issue of Khaira not being given time to speak escalated into a heated argument between Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and the Opposition benches.

As the disagreement intensified, the Congress MLAs led by Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa stormed the well of the House before staging a walkout.

Later, during the discussion on the Governor’s address, the Congress MLAs again walked out of the House for not letting Khaira speak.

Bajwa accused the Speaker of allegedly “misusing” his discretion to give time to the Opposition members to speak.

As Khaira walked in to the well of the House, accusing the Speaker of stifling his voice, he had to be literally forced by his colleagues to join the walkout before the situation could turn worse.

Coming to the rescue of the Speaker, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema objected to the use of “unparliamentary” words by Khaira against the Speaker.

“As Leader of the Opposition, I had sought time for myself, Pargat Singh and Sukhpal Khaira. However, the Speaker did not allow Khaira to speak. It is totally wrong,” said Bajwa.

Outside the House, Khaira accused the Speaker for systematically banning him from participating in legislative proceedings for more than a year. Terming it as stifling dissent within the Legislative Assembly, he claimed that for the past year, he had been prevented from raising issues concerning his segment.

The Speaker said against the allocated 25 minutes, the Congress MLAs got 39 minutes to speak.

Earlier, Bajwa demanded a white paper on the comprehensive details of the government jobs provided by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as being claimed in the advertisements.

“Details like profile of beneficiaries and their domicile will help people understand whether the amount spent on advertisement is justified,” said Bajwa.

Differences come to the fore

As the Congress MLAs staged the walkout for not allowing Khaira to speak, Kapurthlala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh did not join the protest. His colleagues were seen persuading him to join the walkout, which he reluctantly joined. Rana and Khaira have been at loggerheads in the past. Instead the Speaker allowed Independent MLA Rana Inder Partap, son of MLA Rana Gurjeet, to speak, further provoking Khaira.

Rehabilitation of addicts

BJP MLA Ashwani Kumar demanded rehabilitation programme for drug addicts as the government had launched a campaign against drug abuse. Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh said the government had already worked out an elaborate plan for the rehabilitation of addicts.

Partap Singh Bajwa flags HM’s statement

LoP Partap Singh Bajwa flagged the recent statement of Home Minister Amit Shah, who while briefing the Rajya Sabha, highlighted how his ministry tackled radical Amritpal Singh in Punjab, saying the “wannabe Bhindranwale is peacefully reciting Guru Granth Sahib in Assam jail”.

Bajwa without naming Shah said understanding of religion was must before making such comments.

Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan advocated that religious matters should be avoided in political discourse.