Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Congress MlA Arvind Khanna, who had put in his papers on Sunday. The 46-year-old Khanna was legislator from Dhuri Assembly seat. Atwal said that he has accepted Khanna’s resignation on his personal request after verification of the facts.
As per rules, a by-election has to be held within six months of the acceptance of the incumbent’s resignation. Khanna, while announcing his resignation, had issued a statement saying, “I have decided to go ahead with my resignation from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and active politics to devote my time to my family and business. I had decided to resign in April last year, but did not do so due to some last minute personal reasons. I have already conveyed this decision to party leaders.”
Businessman-cum-politician Khanna is a close confidante and kin of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. He had been MlA twice in 2002 and 2012 on Congress ticket. He is also considered close to Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Badal. Political experts believed that Khanna’s resignation has “intentionally” come at a time when the differences between the SAD and BJP have reached a height, and Dhuri byelection may provide an opportunity to the Akali Dal to attain complete majority in 117-member house, sans BJP.
As of now, the SAD has 57 seats — just two short of the majority, while the BJP has 12 seats. Khanna’s resignation has reduced the number of Congress MlAs in the Assembly to 44 and necessitated by-election to the Dhuri assembly constituency within the stipulated period of six months.