Shoes, paper missiles fly in Punjab Assembly; Bills passed at breakneck speed

Chandigarh, September 14 : It was utter chaos at the Punjab Assembly session here on Wednesday as shoes were hurled at the treasury benches and books and paper missiles freely thrown at Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal that made the veteran Akali leader call it the worst day of his 60 years in politics.
Meanwhile, despite the pandemonium, Bills were passed at breakneck speed as no less than 12 Bills were through in 30 minutes flat.
The Congress MLAs, who were in a cantankerous mood, continued to protest in the Assembly for the third day. The opposition legislators, who had gathered in the well of the House well before the start of the session, threw papers and books at the Speaker and treasury benches as soon as the session began. Extra security had to be deployed to guard the Speaker and House secretary Shashi Lakhanpal Mishra.
The Speaker suspended Question Hour and started with the business for the day. Raising slogans against the government, the Congress MLAs accused the Speaker of being partial. They even booed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal when he got up from his seat to speak.
Shoes were hurled at the treasury benches. Congress MLA Tarlochan Soondh hurled a shoe at Majithia.
Soondh later said he had hurled the shoe at Akali leader Virsa Singh Valtoha, who had allegedly passed casteist remarks, but it missed him and fell near Majithia.Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Mohan Mittal deposited the shoe at the office of the Speaker saying an inquiry would follow.
Reacting to the development, Majithia called it a disgraceful act, adding that people would punish the Congress for this. He also sought Soondh’s disqualification from the House. Whereas Congress Legislature Party leader Charanjit Singh Channi said he supported Soondh for his act against someone passing casteist remarks. Amidst the pandemonium, the Bains brothers sat in a silent protest. Badal on Tuesday had tried to reach out to the protesting Congress MLAs to break the deadlock over their demand for resumption of a debate on the no-confidence motion against the SAD-BJP government, but had failed. Meanwhile, expecting trouble, no visitor passes to the House were issued on Wednesday. Heavy security was deployed around the Vidhan Sabha. Later, the House was adjourned sine die. This made the Congress decide to hold a mock Assembly outside the House.