Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Monday conveyed that he had accepted the resignation of Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural. The announcement comes a day after Angural had moved a request to withdraw his resignation. Upset over the development, Angural has indicated potential legal action as his next step.
Angural, who represented the Jalandhar West constituency as Aam Aadmi Party MLA, tendered his resignation to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker on March 28, just a day after he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Alongside him, the then Jalandhar MP Sushil Rinku, and former AAP leader, also resigned and joined the saffron party to become its candidate for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat.
As per the information provided, the official acceptance of Angural’s resignation by Speaker Sandhwan took place on May 30, with a formal notification issued the following day on May 31 — that is a day before the polls. The notification stated, “It is notified that consequent upon the acceptance of resignation of Sheetal Angural, MLA, the seat of 34-Jalandhar West (SC) assembly constituency in the Punjab Legislative Assembly has fallen vacant with effect from May 30, 2024.”
Unaware of the same, Angural wrote to the Speaker on Sunday — a day after the polling — urging the withdrawal of his resignation. In his letter, Angural expressed his desire to avoid imposing an additional financial burden on the exchequer by necessitating a by-election for the Jalandhar West seat. He argued that his withdrawal was in the best interest of fiscal prudence and the constituency's stability.
However, the Speaker maintained that the resignation had been processed and accepted according to the legislative procedures, making it effective from the specified date. This firm stance by the Speaker has left Angural with no option but to consider legal recourse.
The resignation and its subsequent acceptance have significant political implications. Punjab has 117 assembly segments, with the AAP having secured a decisive victory in the 2022 assembly polls by winning 92 seats.
Himachal assembly speaker accepts resignations of three Independent MLAs
Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Monday accepted the resignation of three Independent MLAs who had voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.
"Resignations have been accepted and these three MLAs cease to be members of the 14th Vidhan Sabha with immediate effect," Pathania said. Independent MLAs Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh) had voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the February 27 Rajya Sabha elections along with six Congress rebels. The three MLAs resigned from the assembly on March 22 but the speaker did not accept their resignations, saying that he had received a representation from the Congress legislative party that they had resigned under duress and not voluntarily.
