Punjab Congress MLAs allege 'undemocratic conduct '; question Khaira’s suspension

Punjab Congress leaders Pargat Singh and Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Tuesday criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over Khaira’s suspension from the Punjab Assembly, alleging that the action was unjustified and that Congress MLAs were not allowed to enter the Assembly premises.

Punjab Congress leaders Pargat Singh and Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Tuesday criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over Khaira’s suspension from the Punjab Assembly, alleging that the action was unjustified and that Congress MLAs were not allowed to enter the Assembly premises. Punjab Congress president and MLA Pargat Singh termed the incident unfortunate and said the legislators only wanted to ask the Speaker why Khaira had been suspended.

“This is unfortunate. Such things should not happen in an elected system, it simply has no place here. In my opinion, we shouldn’t be doing things like this. We simply wanted to ask the Speaker why Sukhpal Singh Khaira was suspended. That is all we wanted to know. In a democracy, shouldn’t we be allowed to see the proceedings? Could you show us a video from inside where Sukhpal Singh Khaira said something that violated the decorum of the House?” Pargat Singh said. He alleged that state minister Harpal Cheema had himself violated the decorum of the House by accusing him of being associated with the drug trade.

“In fact, it was Harpal Cheema who violated the decorum by accusing someone like me of being associated with the ‘chitta’ (drug) trade,” he said. Pargat Singh held both the BJP and AAP responsible for the situation, noting that AAP was in power in Punjab while the BJP was in power at the Centre. Referring to the Union Home Minister’s statement, he said, “If the Home Minister says, ‘Hand it over to us; we will fix it,’ it implies that you are causing damage to it deliberately.”

Addressing the BJP’s Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra in Jalandhar, Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday (September 30), in his speech in Jalandhar, alleged that the AAP government in Punjab had allowed the trade of “chitta” (synthetic drugs) to flourish openly and vowed that the BJP would make Punjab free from the drug trade by December 31, 2029, if voted to power. Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira accused the AAP of acting in an undemocratic and unconstitutional manner and said his suspension was unjustified. He alleged that Harpal Cheema had made a false statement in the Assembly claiming that he was involved in an NDPS narcotics case and implying that he was a drug peddler.

“If there is any party in the entire country that acts in an undemocratic and unconstitutional manner, it is the Aam Aadmi Party. First of all, my suspension is entirely unjustified. Harpal Cheema, a minister, made a false statement claiming that Sukhpal Singh Khaira is involved in an NDPS narcotics case, implying that I am a drug peddler,” Khaira said. Khaira claimed that the Supreme Court of India stayed the NDPS case against him in June 2024, saying, "In reality, the NDPS case they fabricated against me was stayed by the honourable Supreme Court of India in June 2024, and the proceedings were halted. So, that accusation was false."

He further alleged that Cheema had linked him and his family to a firing incident in Nakodar around 40 years ago, in which four people were killed. "He alleged linking it to my family that I was responsible for a firing incident in Nakodar forty years ago, in which four people were killed. This is factually incorrect; a commission headed by Justice Gurnam Singh was formed subsequently. Its 1986 report is currently with the government. We have been demanding that this report be tabled in the Legislative Assembly and that those found guilty, regardless of who they might be related to, be punished. Yet, they refuse to table that report," Khaira said.

Khaira alleged that he was suspended on the basis of verbal allegations and said he had intended to enter the Assembly to question why Cheema was allegedly misleading the House. “Today, I intended to go inside and ask why Harpal Cheema is actively misleading the House. Not a single word I have spoken in the Legislative Assembly over the last three days is on the record. If nothing is on the record, how can you suspend someone?” he said.

Criticising the state of proceedings in the Assembly, Khaira said, “This assembly has been reduced to a mere concrete structure; they have effectively killed the very soul of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.” Responding to the accusations, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema further accused Congress MLAs of hooliganism and said they had violated the law by creating a scene near the podium inside the Assembly.

“Congress MLAs may have won elections two or three times, but today they engaged in hooliganism in the Assembly. I believe they do not believe in the law and violate it. They demonstrated this by creating a scene at the podium inside the Assembly,” Cheema said. He alleged that Congress had violated law and order whenever it was in power and denied that opposition legislators had been denied entry to the Assembly.

“Everyone has the right to enter, and no one’s rights have been taken away. Four to five Opposition MLAs are still seated in the Assembly, and Partap Singh Bajwa himself came to the Assembly, spoke and left,” he said. Cheema further alleged that several Congress leaders had repeatedly made objectionable remarks against the Dalit community and Scheduled Castes.

"Many Congress leaders repeatedly make objectionable remarks against the Dalit community and Scheduled Castes, which is why Sukhpal Singh Khaira has been suspended," Cheema alleged. This reaction came after the suspension of Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Friday for the remainder of the ongoing session following a resolution moved by State Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema.

Cheema moved the motion against Khaira, accusing him of using unparliamentary language against the Chair and deliberately disrupting the proceedings of the House. Cheema cited Khaira's conduct during a protest by Congress MLAs during Question Hour. Moving the resolution in the Assembly, Cheema aimed criticism at the Congress, accusing the party of hypocrisy and pointing to a history of violence and inaction on the state's drug crisis.

The Punjab Assembly then passed the motion against Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, suspending him for the remainder of the ongoing session. (ANI)