Low attendance,high-decibel chatter mark day of mourning in Assembly

On a day when the Punjab Assembly passed obituary resolutions to pay tribute to at least 15 freedom fighters who died since the Winter Session...

Budget session : Proceeding last less than an hour,House on a break until next week

On a day when the Punjab Assembly passed obituary resolutions to pay tribute to at least 15 freedom fighters who died since the Winter Session,close to half the members,in a House of 117 MLAs,were not present. The bulk of the absentees,almost 30,were from the Opposition Congress,who,perhaps,found it convenient to miss the session ahead of a two-and-a-half day break before the House gathers again next week. Among the treasury benches,MLAs chatted away and could not give a patient hearing even when obituary references were being made. At one point of time,MLA Charanjit Singh Channi,with folded hands,asked a senior Cabinet minister to pay attention to his thoughts on those who fought dearly for the freedom of the nation. She obliged; others did not.

Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon was compelled to step in with a word of advice for the few MLAs present. He urged the MLAs to refrain from chatting given the sanctity of the occasion. You (MLAs) can spare time to talk once the obituaries are over. Its a time when the House is expressing grief,mourning the death of our freedom fighters, he pleaded. The session ended in less than 45 minutes.

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Certain MLAs from the treasury benches,notably Anil Joshi of the BJP,were busy moving around from one place to another when tributes were being paid. Joshi left midway through the session. The official gallery and the Speakers gallery were empty.

Besides freedom fighters,the Assembly paid tributes to the Sikhs recently killed in Pakistan by the Taliban,former West Bengal CM Jyoti Basu and two Sunam-based students who were killed in Australia. The Punjabi youth who reportedly died saving a women in the US was also saluted by the state Assembly.

In the absence of the Chief Minister,who is reportedly unwell,Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal began the days proceedings lauding the sacrifice of all the freedom fighters. Leader of Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal,senior Cabinet minister Manoranjan Kalia and Speaker Kahlon also spoke. The Assembly also passed and obituary resolution to pay tribute to noted writers Santokh Singh Dhir,H S Mehboob,T S Chann and Punjabi critic T R Vinod.

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