Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MlA and senior advocate HS Phoolka on Tuesday submitted his resignation to quit as the leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha.
Phoolka personally submitted his resignation to Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana Kanwar Pal Singh. A Supreme Court lawyer, he was caught between leading the party MlAs in the State Assembly and continuing his fight for justice for the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims and he chose the latter.
After the State Assembly polls, AAP had emerged as the principal opposition party with 20 seats while the Congress returned to power with a near two-thirds majority, pushing the SAD-BJP combine to the poor third.
Dakha MlA, Phoolka, was elected the leader of the AAP legislature party on March 16 and become the leader of Opposition in the State Assembly. later, the Delhi Bar Council disallowed him from continuing his legal practice, citing that he held an “office of profit” being the leader of Opposition with a Cabinet Minister rank. A Vidhan Sabha spokesperson said the resignation submitted by Phoolka is under consideration. AAP, which is the main opposition party in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, has not given any alternate name for the post of leader of Opposition, said the spokesperson.
Announcing his decision to quit the leader of Opposition post giving up the cabinet rank on July 9, Phoolka recommended the names of three AAP MlAs Sukhpal Khaira, Kanwar Sandhu and Aman Arora, according to their seniority, to the party high command to elect as his successor for the post in consultation with other party legislators.
Khaira, a former Congressman, is an MlA from Bholath assembly seat, and has been leading the charge against Cabinet Minister Rana Gurjit Singh who was facing allegations of impropriety in the multi-crore sand mining auctions.
Sandhu, a former journalist and was involved in preparing AAP’s manifesto during assembly polls, is an MlA from Kharar seat, while Arora is an MlA from Sunam and recently appointed party’s state co-president.