Chandigarh September 19:
Making a comeback, former Punjab Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to rock the floor of the House during the forthcoming Monsoon Session of the State Assembly from September 24.
After missing the previous Budget Session in March due to his expulsion from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in September 2008, ‘Maharaja of Patiala’ would be the principle attraction of the session this time after the apex court restored his membership.
Being out of the scene, Captain Amarinder will make his presence felt in the Monsoon Session by taking on the ruling SAD-BJP for its failure in tackling flood situation, sharing of river waters with Haryana and Rajasthan, on the issue of Hansi-Butana Link, rotting sacks of paddy in various districts and of course on taking a call on the issue of political vendetta.
Captain, who emerged out to be a “tested and tried weapon” of the Congress, is once again ready to lead the party in the coming session from the front. “Captain has proved himself time and again. Onerous task of uniting the bickering Congress Government was achieved by him and with his great experience, he will do justice to his people for electing him into the House,” a senior Congress leader told The Pioneer, requesting anonymity.
“Obviously, his presence will make a difference in the attitude of the Congress and this time they will be in more attacking mode,” said SAD MLA, requesting anonymity. Facing expulsion following corruption charges against him in the land allotment case since September 2008, Captain had been holding the Congress front in Punjab since then. Though, he came in picture with his wife Preneet Kaur during the Lok Sabha elections last year and ended up assuring her a berth in Union Cabinet, a lot of uncertainty about his future role in politics was hovering around.
Captain’s loyalists and supporters, however, never conceded that his era is heading towards closing stages, his detractors even felt that his ‘comeback’ will bring in new lease of life in the Congress. “This time we will fight more vigorously and attack the SAD-BJP Government for its failures in the State on different fronts,” a senior Congress leader said, requesting anonymity.
What more goes in favour of Captain Amarinder is his time-to-time ‘criticism’ of the State Government’s functioning. Inspite of keeping a low profile since last Lok Sabha election, Captain Amarinder never let go any chance to hit out at the State’s SAD-BJP Government on the issues like violence and poor fiscal health of the State. Moreover, he was even critical of the initiative of State deputy Speaker Satpal Gosain to discuss and end the politics of vendetta in the State.
Even he himself called to be a ‘victim’ of politics of vendetta and termed the move of his expulsion as an act of “political vendetta and unconstitutional”. It may be recalled that the former Chief Minister was expelled from the State Assembly on September 3, 2008 for “breach of privilege” after a resolution was passed on the basis of the report of a special committee appointed by the Punjab Assembly and headed by Harish Rai Dhanda to look into the alleged irregularities in the allotment of land to the Amritsar Improvement Trust.
However, Captain approached the Apex Court in February 2009 seeking permission to attend the Budget Session of the State Assembly, which was turned down by the Bench. The denial of permission by the Supreme Court was misconceived by his detractors as a conclusion that Captain’s membership would not to be restored. The expulsion was perhaps the first incident of its kind when a former Chief Minister of any State was expelled for the rest of the term of the House and the seat declared vacant in this fashion.
Making a comeback, former Punjab Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to rock the floor of the House during the forthcoming Monsoon Session of the State Assembly from September 24.
After missing the previous Budget Session in March due to his expulsion from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in September 2008, ‘Maharaja of Patiala’ would be the principle attraction of the session this time after the apex court restored his membership.
Being out of the scene, Captain Amarinder will make his presence felt in the Monsoon Session by taking on the ruling SAD-BJP for its failure in tackling flood situation, sharing of river waters with Haryana and Rajasthan, on the issue of Hansi-Butana Link, rotting sacks of paddy in various districts and of course on taking a call on the issue of political vendetta.
Captain, who emerged out to be a “tested and tried weapon” of the Congress, is once again ready to lead the party in the coming session from the front. “Captain has proved himself time and again. Onerous task of uniting the bickering Congress Government was achieved by him and with his great experience, he will do justice to his people for electing him into the House,” a senior Congress leader told The Pioneer, requesting anonymity.
“Obviously, his presence will make a difference in the attitude of the Congress and this time they will be in more attacking mode,” said SAD MLA, requesting anonymity. Facing expulsion following corruption charges against him in the land allotment case since September 2008, Captain had been holding the Congress front in Punjab since then. Though, he came in picture with his wife Preneet Kaur during the Lok Sabha elections last year and ended up assuring her a berth in Union Cabinet, a lot of uncertainty about his future role in politics was hovering around.
Captain’s loyalists and supporters, however, never conceded that his era is heading towards closing stages, his detractors even felt that his ‘comeback’ will bring in new lease of life in the Congress. “This time we will fight more vigorously and attack the SAD-BJP Government for its failures in the State on different fronts,” a senior Congress leader said, requesting anonymity.
What more goes in favour of Captain Amarinder is his time-to-time ‘criticism’ of the State Government’s functioning. Inspite of keeping a low profile since last Lok Sabha election, Captain Amarinder never let go any chance to hit out at the State’s SAD-BJP Government on the issues like violence and poor fiscal health of the State. Moreover, he was even critical of the initiative of State deputy Speaker Satpal Gosain to discuss and end the politics of vendetta in the State.
Even he himself called to be a ‘victim’ of politics of vendetta and termed the move of his expulsion as an act of “political vendetta and unconstitutional”. It may be recalled that the former Chief Minister was expelled from the State Assembly on September 3, 2008 for “breach of privilege” after a resolution was passed on the basis of the report of a special committee appointed by the Punjab Assembly and headed by Harish Rai Dhanda to look into the alleged irregularities in the allotment of land to the Amritsar Improvement Trust.
However, Captain approached the Apex Court in February 2009 seeking permission to attend the Budget Session of the State Assembly, which was turned down by the Bench. The denial of permission by the Supreme Court was misconceived by his detractors as a conclusion that Captain’s membership would not to be restored. The expulsion was perhaps the first incident of its kind when a former Chief Minister of any State was expelled for the rest of the term of the House and the seat declared vacant in this fashion.
