Congress rejects Akali- BJP offer to revoke Rana Gurjit’s expulsion from House session

Friday, 21/12/2012

http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

CHANDIGARH: A day after Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal expelled Congress MLA Rana Gurjit Singh for allegedly using abusive l anguage i n the House against revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia, the ruling Akali- BJP alliance expressed eagerness to reinstate the legislator on Thursday. However, the move apparently backfired as the Punjab Congress refused to oblige.

Immediately after question hour, deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal ( SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal stood up and requested the speaker that though the Congress MLA had used abusive language against Majithia, the government was ready to revoke his expulsion for the sake of smooth functioning of the House.

Sukhbir said the Opposition had a very constructive role to play in parliamentary democracy and hence the House proceedings s hould not be continued without the presence of Congress members. “I, therefore, request the speaker to allow the ruling alliance to move a resolution to revoke Rana Gurjit’s expulsion ,” Sukhbir added.

In response t o Sukhbir’s request, the speaker said he called Congress Legislature Party ( CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar twice to his chamber on Wednesday to sort the issue, but the latter did not turn up. “If he had come, nothing would have happened. Let the parliamentary affairs minister move the resolution for revocation of expulsion,” Atwal said.

Parliamentary affairs minister Madan Mohan Mittal said the deputy chief minister had shown his large- heartedness to revoke the Congress MLA’s expulsion. But before moving the resolution, Mittal suggested that the speaker should call a meeting of members of the ruling alliance and the Opposition in his chamber to sort the matter. “After all, the Opposition has to be present when the resolution is to be moved for the revocation,” said Mittal, adding that till then the House may be adjourned for half an hour.

The speaker i mmediately adjourned the House, saying that passing a resolution unilaterally would be of no help.

However, when the Vidhan Sabha secretary went to convey t he message t o Jakhar and told him that the speaker had called him and two other Congress MLAs Lal Singh and Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi to his chamber, the CLP leader refused to oblige.

“The speaker is no one to tell us whom we should send from our party for the meeting. Besides, the party has decided that the issue could be resolved only after the intervention of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. I still have faith in Badal’s leadership, but I have no confi dence i n the l eadership of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia. It is because of these people that the whole issue has been blown out of proportion. Moreover, we cannot reply to the speaker, who has been acting in a completely biased manner. The whole world has seen Majithia abusing Rana Gurjit on the video and the speaker is still not ready to act,” said Jakhar.