Former Deputy speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Bir Devinder on Wednesday refused to apologise to the Congress over his “outburst” against Punjab party chief Captain Amarinder Singh earlier this month. According to the Congress, Bir Devinder was suspended and issued a showcause notice, the deadline of which ends on Thursday, for his remarks. A three-member committee, headed by MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was asked to look into the matter, the party had said. “I am ready to live and die for the party. But on my own conditions. Why should I apologise? I have not done anything wrong,” he said. “All I wrote was a piece on the state of Congress. It was Capt Amarinder Singh who wrote a bitter essay against me. I only responded to that,” said Bir. [related-post] He added that he had neither received any suspension notice nor any show-cause notice. “I read only in the media that I have been put under suspension. Otherwise, there has been no official communication,” he said. “I will wait for tomorrow (Thursday). The three-member committee has not contacted me yet. The Congress is my sole consideration. Otherwise, it is not for the first time that I have been suspended,” he added. The April 1 notice to Bir Devinder stated: “In view of the recent media reports and your anti-party activities, you are thereby suspended from the primary membership of the PPCC with immediate effect.” Randhawa said the notice was to be served by the PPCC. “We will be waiting for Bir’s reply,” he said.
