AAP raised allegations of judicial corruption, launched an all-out attack against the Congress and turned the tables on the ruling party in the short session.
Chandigarh: The three-day winter session of the Punjab assembly that concluded Wednesday has helped the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to revive its spirits.
When the session began Monday, the party raised allegations of judicial corruption in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and turned the tables on the ruling Congress.
On the closing day too, a high-decibel bitter emotional outburst by leader of opposition and AAP MLA, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, against Congress leaders ensured that the treasury benches did not get the last word either.
Apart from the volley of unprintable abuses he hurled against Congressmen during a press conference, Khaira launched a no-holds-barred personal attack on chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, leaving several Congressmen men red-faced.
Alleging that the CM was part of a conspiracy to finish him politically, he went on to question Amarinder Singh’s friendship with a Pakistani journalist.
The CM said he did not want to comment on what Khaira had said but “it exposed the petty and spiteful mindset of the leader of the opposition in the Punjab assembly, and his party, which obviously did not believe in upholding constitutional or parliamentary propriety”.
Why the outburst
Khaira’s outburst followed the Congress moving a surprise resolution condemning the release of the audio-clip against a high court judge by MLAs of AAP’s ally, the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP). The House resolved to ask the chief justice of the high court to take suo motu notice of the attempt made by the LIP MLAs to “lower the dignity” of the judiciary.
Visibly shocked at the resolution, AAP and LIP legislators lashed out at the Congress and staged a walk out. An upset Khaira addressed a press conference later saying that Congress had exposed itself in trying to protect those who played a role in ‘judge gate’ aimed at obstructing justice in his case.
Khaira was summoned (through non-bailable warrants) by a sessions judge of district Fazilka in a trans-border drug smuggling case early this month. The SAD and the Congress launched a strong attack on him demanding his resignation.
“You can hang me, shoot me if I am found to be involved in the drug trade,” he said, breaking down during the press conference Wednesday reiterating that he was ready for a probe by any independent agency over the allegations against him.
What is ‘judge-gate’
Khaira approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging his summoning. The high court while cancelling non-bailable warrants against him, however, directed Khaira to face trial in the Fazilka court.
The HC order strengthened opposition voices against Khaira and he was expected to be the prime target of both parties during the winter session. However, hours before the session began Monday, LIP MLAs Balwinder Singh Bains and Simerjit Singh Bains released an audio recording of a conversation between a former law officer and a former PCS officer in which the lawyer is claiming that he had “fixed” Khaira’s high court judgment against him through a judge of the high court for Rs 35 lakh.
While the Congress claimed the audio was fabricated, Khaira and the Bains brothers met the chief justice and the two most senior judges of the high court, handing over the audio clip and demanding a probe into the claims made in the conversation.
Bonhomie to bitterness
Politically, the audio clip had the desired effect, turning the tables clearly in AAP’s favour. Neither the Congress nor the SAD uttered a word against him on the issue during the ensuing session. The AAP itself went on the offensive, raising the matter in the assembly Tuesday.
The matter seemed to have ended and a large part of the last day of the assembly on Wednesday saw unusual bonhomie between the AAP, SAD and the Congress.
Apart from a notional walk-out by SAD MLAs led by Bikram Singh Majithia over an alleged meeting of a Congress leader with Uttar Pradesh MLA Raja Bhaiya, and a vitriolic attack by Khaira against Congress leaders for their alleged role in illegal mining, the day had almost passed off peacefully.
The positivity touched a new high when Khaira announced in the assembly that he was taking back the words he used against Congress MLAs over the illegal mining issue. Barely an hour later, he launched a scathing attack on them.