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Punjab Budget session heats up as Akalis protest against Sidhu
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SME Times News Bureau | 18 Feb, 2019
Angry scenes were witnessed in
the Punjab Assembly in a war of words between state cabinet Minister
Navjot Singh Sidhu and opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLAs,
especially Bikram Singh Majithia, which forced adjournment before the
budget could be presented in the House here on Monday.
Sidhu and
Majithia could be seen gesturing angrily at each other and calling each
other names like "chor" (thief), "daku" (dacoit), "deshdrohi", "badmash"
(miscreant) and "chitta" (white powder drug) trader, forcing Speaker
Rana K.P. Singh to adjourn the session amid Finance Minister Manpreet
Singh Badal's speech.
Personal attacks flew across the benches between Sidhu and Majithia. The SAD MLAs also wore black ribbons on their arms.
Speaker Rana K.P. Singh called out the Akali and BJP legislators and asked the Assembly staff to remove them from the House.
The
Akali MLAs held a protest in the Assembly against the recent remarks of
Sidhu on the deadly Pulwama terror attack. They demanded that the
cricketer-turned-politician and Congress leader must be dismissed from
the Punjab cabinet.
The protest was carried out near the
Speaker's podium even as Finance Minister Badal was reading out the
annual budget for the state.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh kept sitting quietly as the heated exchanges continued between Sidhu and Majithia.
Some Ministers and Congress MLAs were found trying to pacify a visibly agitated Sidhu but he did not relent.
Earlier, the SAD-BJP legislators burnt the Pakistani flag outside the Assembly complex.
The
Akalis raised slogans against Sidhu's remarks defending Pakistan
following the February 14 terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama
district in Jammu and Kashmir in which 49 troopers were killed when a
terrorist drove an explosives-laden SUV into the convoy.
Carrying
photographs of Sidhu hugging Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, the
Akali Dal legislators demanded action against Sidhu.
Sidhu, who
takes every opportunity to harp on his friendship with Pakistan Prime
Minister Imran Khan, a former cricketer like himself, had told the media
on February: "Wherever wars are fought and such things (Pulwama-type
attack) happen, dialogue also continues simultaneously.
"There is
a need to find a permanent solution (to issues between India and
Pakistan). Such people (terrorists) have no religion, no country and no
caste. When a snake bites, its antidote is also snake poison."
Sidhu has also justified his take on the dialogue between the two nuclear neighbours.
Though
Sidhu condemned the Pulwama terror attack on the CRPF convoy, he added
that the entire nation (Pakistan) could not be blamed for the actions of
a handful people.
"This (attack) should be condemned by all. For
a handful people, you cannot blame an entire nation. Those behind the
attack must be punished," Sidhu had said.
Sidhu on Saturday
defended his comments claiming that his statement was "deliberately
distorted" as the people were scared of him.
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