Drama in House: Khaira named and escorted out; CM takes on LoP for asking him ‘who are you’

As Khaira continued to protest, Mann took a swipe at the Congress, saying, "His party does not give him time to speak." (file)

The day long special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, called to oppose the new job law that replaces the MGREGA, had its fair share of drama as the Speaker named Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira who escorted out by the watch and ward staff and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann took on Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa for asking him,”Who are you?”.

The session was called to pass a resolution against the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G Act). Cabinet Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond tabled the resolution for discussion.

As the the chief minister began speaking, Khaira rose from his seat and rushed to the Well of the House demanding that he be allowed to take part in the discussion. To this, Mann urged Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan to bring the House in order.

The Speaker reminded Khaira that he was the first person to speak in the House during the session and said it was not necessary that only one person would speak on every issue.

The Speaker told Khaira that Congress was given 29 minutes to speak, against the allotted time of 16 minutes. Soon more Congress members joined Khaira in the Well.

The Speaker then warned Khaira that he would name him if he continued to disrupt the proceedings and asked him to go back to his seat. As the unruly scenes continued, the Speaker named Khaira and directed the watch and ward staff to take him out of the House.

“He is disturbing the session. They (Congress) came here with a plan not to allow me to speak because I will expose them,” said Mann.

Lashing out at Khaira, Mann said he is a “power hungry” politician keen on getting people’s attention.

“He indulges in cheap tantrums to hog media limelight, especially when his party is contemplating a change of leadership. Instead of raising issues of the state and its people, he is more concerned with personal publicity, due to which he doesn’t even hesitate to violate the decorum of the House,” the chief minister said.

He then asked the Congress MLAs supporting Khaira to either leave the House or sit back.

To this, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa retorted, “Who are you?”

“You are asking who I am? Didn’t you get to know who I am in the 2022 Assembly polls?” Mann shot back at Bajwa.

The CM and Bajwa then engaged in a verbal duel, even as the Speaker asked the Congress MLAs to return to their seats.