Chandigarh: Chief minister Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab won the vote of confidence hands down on Monday, the concluding day of the state assembly session amid protest by the opposition parties.
While the opposition Congress and BJP abstained from the vote, one each of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the lone legislator of SAD’s ally, BSP, present in the House, did not oppose the no-confidence motion against AAP.
Prior to the discussion on the trust vote, the members of the principal opposition party, Congress, had staged a walk-out protest against Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan’s refusal to their demand for holding the 'Zero Hour'.
The session which began with the calling attention motions, the leader of the opposition and Congress senior leader Partap Singh Bajwa lashed out at Mann asking him to give a statement in the House on the escape of gangster Deepak Tinu, an accused in the singer Sidhu Moosewala’s murder case that had shocked the whole nation in May this year.
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Tearing into the ruling AAP, Bajwa also asked for Mann’s reply on the escape of a drug smuggler from police custody in Patiala and the snatching of a rifle from a police officer by him in Gurdaspur.
Notably, after getting no response to their demand, the Congress MLAs entered the well of the House and continued shouting slogans against the ruling AAP and staged a walk-out when the Speaker announced to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.
However, the Mann-led AAP government won the trust vote with 93 legislators in its favour after Mann gave his concluding speech assailing the BJP. "Operation Lotus, an alleged attempt of the BJP to topple the AAP government, had been defeated in Punjab," Mann said.
For the record, in the House of 117, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has 92 legislators, the principal opposition Congress, 18, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), three, its ally BSP, one and the BJP has two MLA while there is one independent member.
It may be recalled that Mann had moved the no-confidence motion in its favour on Tuesday (September 27 last) - the very first day of the four-day session - accusing BJP of attempting to topple his government under its "Operation Lotus."
The party alleged that at least 10 of its MLAs had been approached by the saffron party with an offer of Rs 25 crore each to shift loyalty. The discussion on the move was scheduled for Monday.
Both the BJP members had been boycotting the session and protesting, maintaining that such a session was in violation of the Constitution while the Congress legislators held it against assembly rules.
It may also be recalled that prior to giving nod for the September 27 session, Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit had cancelled his permission to convene the session on September 22 on the issue of no confidence motion by AAP in its favour. The ruling AAP however again sought to hold the session on the issues such as stubble burning, GST and power supply.Chandigarh: Chief minister Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab won the vote of confidence hands down on Monday, the concluding day of the state assembly session amid protest by the opposition parties.
While the opposition Congress and BJP abstained from the vote, one each of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the lone legislator of SAD’s ally, BSP, present in the House, did not oppose the no-confidence motion against AAP.
Prior to the discussion on the trust vote, the members of the principal opposition party, Congress, had staged a walk-out protest against Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan’s refusal to their demand for holding the 'Zero Hour'.
The session which began with the calling attention motions, the leader of the opposition and Congress senior leader Partap Singh Bajwa lashed out at Mann asking him to give a statement in the House on the escape of gangster Deepak Tinu, an accused in the singer Sidhu Moosewala’s murder case that had shocked the whole nation in May this year.
Tearing into the ruling AAP, Bajwa also asked for Mann’s reply on the escape of a drug smuggler from police custody in Patiala and the snatching of a rifle from a police officer by him in Gurdaspur.
Notably, after getting no response to their demand, the Congress MLAs entered the well of the House and continued shouting slogans against the ruling AAP and staged a walk-out when the Speaker announced to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.
However, the Mann-led AAP government won the trust vote with 93 legislators in its favour after Mann gave his concluding speech assailing the BJP. "Operation Lotus, an alleged attempt of the BJP to topple the AAP government, had been defeated in Punjab," Mann said.
For the record, in the House of 117, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has 92 legislators, the principal opposition Congress, 18, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), three, its ally BSP, one and the BJP has two MLA while there is one independent member.
It may be recalled that Mann had moved the no-confidence motion in its favour on Tuesday (September 27 last) - the very first day of the four-day session - accusing BJP of attempting to topple his government under its "Operation Lotus."
The party alleged that at least 10 of its MLAs had been approached by the saffron party with an offer of Rs 25 crore each to shift loyalty. The discussion on the move was scheduled for Monday.
Both the BJP members had been boycotting the session and protesting, maintaining that such a session was in violation of the Constitution while the Congress legislators held it against assembly rules.
It may also be recalled that prior to giving nod for the September 27 session, Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit had cancelled his permission to convene the session on September 22 on the issue of no confidence motion by AAP in its favour. The ruling AAP however again sought to hold the session on the issues such as stubble burning, GST and power supply.
