CHANDIGARH: Three Opposition legislators were marshalled out of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha after an uproar over notices ordering the demolition of all structures within 30 meters of national and State highways. Cutting across party lines, members of the Assembly expressed concern ‘over the demolition notices and demanded a statement from the Government.
‘The legislators observed that such a program would uproot thousands of people from the lower income strata of the society.
Pandemonium prevailed for about 10 minutes during Zero hour, despite requests from the chair, Mr, Vijay Kumar Saath (Janata Dal), Mr. Tarsem Singh Jodhan (CPIM) and Mr. Inderjit Singh Zira (Akali Dal) continued to speak simultaneously on the demolition issue.
Speaker Harnam Das Johar first asked the members to withdraw from the House, when the appeal went unheeded; he named the three legislators and ordered that they be removed.
As the watch and ward staff advanced to remove Mr. Saathi and Mr. Jodhan from the House, Akali Dal member Zira dodged them and entered the well of Use House, raising slogans. He too was then forcibly taken out from the House. ‘The suspended members then sat on adhama outside the House and raised slogans against the Government Intervening in the debate Finance Minister Kewal Krishan said that the Government was seized of the matter and the legislators could take up the issue through a calling attention motion or an adjournment motion. Ruling party member Som Dutt ‘Sharma, demanding a statement from the Government, alleged that the demolition notices were part of a deep rooted conspiracy of anti-Congress bureaucrats who could not tolerate the party being in power.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 20, 1996
