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Uproar in Punjab Assembly over Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s ‘derogatory’ comment on women and Rs 1,000 dole
Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said he and other Congress members of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha did not agree with Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s comment.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema briefs the media in the lobby of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday. (Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s allegedly derogatory social media post about women in connection with the Rs 1,000 monthly dole announced by the AAP Government in the budget.
The resolution was moved by AAP MLA Inderjit Kaur Mann and seconded by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
Earlier, an uproar broke out over the Facebook post during Zero Hour. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan adjourned the House for 30 minutes as AAP MLAs demanded strict action against Khaira for his comment.
Cheema referred to the Facebook post in which Khaira purportedly said that women performing Gidha over the Rs 1,000 dole cannot be expected to give birth to brave sons.
Cheema said the comment amounted to insulting the poor and destitute women of the state, whom the Government wants to help financially.
The finance minister went on to say that Congress leaders had a history of making such careless and demeaning comments about Dalits. He referred to state Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring’s remarks about a “black person being made Union home minister by Congress”.
Forest Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak demanded that Sukhpal Singh Khaira come to the House and apologise for his remark about women.
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Even as other AAP MLAs got up from their seats and shouted at Congress benches, Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said he and other MLAs of his party did not agree with Khaira’s comment.
“I have not seen that post, but if some fellow MLA has made those comments, I condemn that post. We do not agree with it,” he said.
As the discussion on the issue got heated and AAP MLAs threatened a statewide agitation over Khaira’s remark, the Speaker adjourned the House.
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