CHANDIGARH, October 23 (Aalimi Nation) – The Punjab Assembly on Friday suspended Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira for the remainder of the ongoing session, after a motion moved by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema was passed in the House.
The session began on Thursday and is scheduled to run until October 27.
The motion
The motion accused Khaira of using unparliamentary language against the chair and of deliberately disrupting the proceedings of the House. Cheema cited Khaira's conduct during a Congress protest in Question Hour. The reports available did not specify what words Khaira was alleged to have used.
Cheema and Khaira were seen pointing fingers at each other during the exchange, according to the reports. Congress MLAs staged a walkout and were not present in the House when the motion was passed.
The confrontation followed a Congress protest over the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota. Congress members demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, entered the well of the House and raised slogans against the Aam Aadmi Party government. The government has not been quoted in the available reports on the demand for the chief minister's resignation.
After the suspension, Khaira posted on X criticising the AAP government and saying he would keep raising Punjab's issues. "If speaking for Punjab is an offence, I will commit it every day," he said, adding that he would do so "every day and everywhere."
He named three matters he would continue to raise: speaking up for Punjab, demanding justice for Jhota, and naming Cheema as an accused in the death of Gulzar Dirba. That last allegation is Khaira's own claim; the reports available did not contain a response from Cheema or the government to it, and its details were not reviewed here.
The suspension covers the remaining sittings of the session only. The reports did not say whether Congress will challenge the decision, or whether the party will continue to boycott the proceedings. The party's formal response to the motion was not available at the time of writing.
The official position of the government, as reflected in the motion, is that the suspension was a response to the language used against the chair and to deliberate disruption of the House.
The Assembly is expected to continue its business through October 27. Whether the Congress returns to the House on the following days, and whether the opposition presses its demand for the chief minister's resignation, will determine how the rest of the session unfolds.
