Trepidations and excitement; apprehensions and relaxation; laughter, nervous and hearty — the day one of the “new house” of Punjab Vidhan Sabha witnessed all colours of human nature, as the legislators, the young and the old, the experienced and the green horns, in power or out, came in batches, came alone, came hurrying, came calmly to the Vidhan Sabha on Friday afternoon for the swearing in.
Politics behind their back, the rival politicians greeted each other with warmth on the first day of the newly formed Vidhan Sabha.
A total of 114 elected representatives, other than the Protem Speaker Rana KP Singh and the Badal father-son duo — who were absent, were administered on oath of office and secrecy as the members of Punjab Vidhan Sabha in more than two-hour long ceremony.
Former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Badal were conspicuous by their absence. The two were expected to take oath on Monday.
Virtually in exile from the Treasury Benches in 117-member Assembly, the Congress party returned “home” after a decade. But, on day one, the political animosity was missing, as the legislators were seen greeting their rivals, shaking hands with them.
For as many as 50 “first-timer” MlAs, it was ‘butterflies in tummy’ moment, while some were seen in all gusto. There were slip-ups, and then there were ‘over-excited’ folks cheering them up.
For many of the legislators, it was a feeling of Déjà vu as they traversed the familiar corridors of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. But, for the others, savouring power for the first time, the ingredients of nervousness and anxiety took away some flavour from the taste of victory.
Dressed in their best for their special day, the novice MlAs were seen fumbling, as they were, as of now, unaware of the rules and procedures.
Aam Aadmi Party’s MlA from Dakha and leader of Opposition in the House HS Phoolka forgot to take his winner’s certificate to the dias to take oath, and was reminded by the staff. His colleague Saravjit Kaur, in fact, forgot to bring the same.
Congress’ MlA from Sham Chaurasi Pawan Kumar Adia got so nervous by the cheering of his “high-strung” family and friends that the Pro-tem Speaker has to lead the way. He was asked to repeat after Rana KP Singh.
As per custom, the leader of the House Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh was the first to administer oath as MlA. Soon as his name was announced, he climbed up the stairs with red carpet over it amidst the loud thumping of benches.
He was followed by the senior most cabinet minister Brahm Mohindra, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh, Charanjit Singh Channi, two ministers of State (Independent Charge) Aruna Chaudhary and Razia Sultana.
leader of Opposition Phoolka was the next to take oath, followed by all the women MlAs. Subsequently, the rest of the legislators were administered oath district-wise in an alphabetical order.
To see them tasting success, the families, relatives, friends and even supporters, of most of the MlAs assured their best presence in the visitors’ gallery.
The members were also seen exchanging greetings and best wishes, especially with the Chief Minister, on their way to swearing in. Most of the Congress leaders, touched his feet before and some after the swearing-in.
Considered to be one of the most colourful assembly this time, the 117 member ranges from political stalwarts to first timers, from royal families to bureaucrats, Olympian to cricketer, highly qualified to illiterates and journalist, multi-millionaires, lawyers, engineers, doctors, teachers, and what not!
It would be for the first time in the recallable history when such a large number of young faces have got a fair representation in the Punjab assembly.
Out of total 50 first-timers — arguably the highest ever in the recallable past, Congress has the maximum of 25, followed by the AAP with 19 and SAD-BJP combine with six.
The election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker will be held on March 27, Monday. Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore will address the assembly on March 28, followed by a debate on the Governor’s Address and Motion of Thanks.
Supplementary Grants for 2016-17 and the Vote on Account for 2017-18 will be presented on March 29, besides the legislative business.