Questions of propriety fly as speaker attends events in Tewari’s support

Thursday, 18/04/2019

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CHANDIGARH : Punjab assembly speaker Rana KP Singh’s presence at poll events in support of Manish Tewari, the Congress candidate from Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha seat, has raised questions of propriety.

Rana is an MLA from Anandpur Sahib, one of the nine assembly segments in the parliamentary constituency.

On Wednesday, Rana attended a meeting held by chief minister Amarinder Singh with MLAs, district presidents and party candidates who had lost the 2017 assembly polls from the segments falling in the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.

Amarinder, who had lent his weight to Tewari’s candidature at the screening and central election committee (CEC) meetings of the Congress, asked all MLAs and constituency in-charges to accompany Tewari in every public meeting in their areas.

Rana said there was no constitutional bar on a Speaker from taking part in his party’s poll campaign. “I am not partisan in the House. Punjab Speakers before me too had campaigned in their respective seats,” he said.

Bir Devinder Singh, a former Punjab deputy speaker who is now contesting from Anandpur Sahib on the ticket of Akali Dal (Taksali) accusing Rana of compromising the dignity of the Speaker’s office. “Decorum demands he remains equidistant from all parties. He was also part of Tewari’s roadshow. He should resign for a month if he wants to campaign for the party and seek re-election as speaker after the elections,” Bir Devinder said.

Constitutional expert and former secretary general of Lok Sabha Subhash C Kashyap says there is no legal bar on a speaker from taking party in party activities. “But parliamentary conventions and propriety demand that he does not take part in party activities,” he added.

WON’T TAKE REBELS BACK WITHOUT LOCAL LEADERS’ CONSENT: CM Amarinder is trying to woo ticket dissidents of Lok Sabha polls by offering them suitable adjustments and also bringing back rebels of state polls into the party fold. However, this led to fireworks at the meeting with former Garhshankar MLA Love Kumar Goldy opposing the presence of Nimisha Mehta, who had filed papers as a rebel but later withdrew them.

Ropar district president Brinder Dhillon objected to the presence of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) general secretary Sukhwinder Singh Whisky, whom he accused of working against him during the elections. Dhillon had contested from Rupnagar.

PPCC spokesman Rajpal Singh, who is mobilising support of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and was a claimant for Anandpur Sahib ticket, questioned why he was not invited for the meeting. “I was a serious claimant from Anandpur and OBCs have 5.5 lakh votes there. But we are not being heard,” he said. Later, Amarinder assured them that no rebels will be brought back without the consent of the MLA or the (losing) party candidate.