Cong makes last-ditch bid to get MLAs’ suspension revoked, fails
CHANDIGARH: Uproar prevailed in the Haryana assembly after the opposition Congress made its last-ditch effort to get the suspension of its three MLAs’ revoked on Thursday.
Congress MLA Raghubir Singh Kadian, who alone had come to the House, urged speaker Kanwar Pal Gujjar that since participation of all the Congress MLAs would be good for democracy, the suspension of the three Congress MLAs be revoked.
While 11 Congress MLAs were suspended for three days by the speaker on March 14, the day one of the session, for disrupting the governor’s address, three MLAs were suspended for six months from the assembly and barred for one year from inclusion in the assembly committees for tearing the copies of the governor’s address in the House.
Even though the speaker and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar appeared to agree with Kadian on his request to revoke the suspension, finance minister Capt Abhimanyu and another BJP MLA Subhash Barala said it was shocking to note as to why the 11 MLAs whose suspension had ended, were not attending the House. “It is shocking that they opted to remain outside the House despite the knowledge that the House discussed important issues like SYL canal and Jat agitation,” Capt Abhimanyu said and added that it showed that they had ego problem in this regard.
Health minister Anil Vij took a dig at Kadian, saying that the Congress had sent a “lawyer” on their behalf and even as he had not marked his presence in the attendance register of the House. “They are throwing all norms to winds both inside and outside the House,” he said.
As the speaker was about to get the attendance register inside the House so that Kadian could sign it, leader of Opposition Abhay Chautala strongly objected to it, stating that it would set a bad precedent as MLAs would be separately seeking to bring attendance register to their respective seat to sign it and was an insult to the assembly’ tradition of marking one’s attendance in the register before coming to the House.
He was quickly joined by several BJP MLAs, including Capt Abhimanyu, Vij, Abhey Singh Yadav, Nayab Saini, Pawan Saini, Gian Chand Gupta and Mahipal Dhanda who urged the speaker to send Kadian out to sign the register. At this point of time, Kadian reiterated that any member could sign his presence at any time of the day, but the treasury benches maintained that his statement was irrelevant in the wake of the ruling of the speaker.
As Kadian walked out of the House, Khattar said that the ruling regarding marking of attendance in the House should be brought to the notice of all members by Vidhan Sabha in its next session.
It is shocking that Congress MLAs (who are not suspended) opted to remain outside the House despite knowing that the House discussed important issues like the SYL canal and Jat agitation. It shows that they have ego problem. CAPTAIN ABHIMANYU, finance minister