Opposition Congress on Friday staged walkout twice from Punjab Assembly accusing the Speaker of “muzzling” their voice and protesting the incidents of sacrilege that rocked the State last year.
The Congress members first walked out during the question hour and again when the zero hour was in progress.
As the question hour was in progress, leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi protested Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal’s approach towards them by allegedly not providing them opportunity to express their views.
“You (Speaker) are muzzling our voices (Cong members),” he said.
“We are boycotting the question hour,” Channi said and went out of the House along with his colleague Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
At the time only two Congress MlAs were sitting in the House.
However, after a few minutes the entire Congress legislators returned to the Assembly.
When the Speaker asked Congress MlA Surinder Kumar Dawar to ask his listed question, he stood up and refused to do so saying that “the entire Congress legislators have decided to boycott the question hour.”
Channi along with Ashu walked out when a discussion was going on the fourth listed question on promotion of tourism put by Akali legislator Iqbal Singh Jhundan.
During the zero hour, Congress member Ajit Inder Singh Mofar drew the attention of the House towards incidents of sacrilege which rocked the State last year.
However, the Speaker intervened and told the House that a Commission had already been set up to inquire into the series of incidents of sacrilege.