CHANDIGARH: Former hockey Olympian and sitting Jalandhar Cantt MLA
Pargat Singh on Monday resigned from
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the middle of the ongoing
Vidhan Sabha session. He has joined hands with ex-cricketer and TV personality Navjot Singh Sidhu to launch a new outfit - Awaaz-e-Punjab - ahead of the 2017 assembly elections. Sidhu's MLA wife
Navjot Kaur, however, is still in the BJP.
SAD had suspended Pargat along with
Amritsar south MLA Inderbir Bolaria in August following their tiff with Punjab deputy chief minister and SAD chief Sukhbir Badal over construction of solid waste management plants in their constituencies.
Bolaria is expected to join
Congress. Pargat's resignation would bring down SAD's strength in the 117-member Punjab assembly to 59 but it still has the majority.
Pargat's handwritten resignation came on a day when SAD was expecting a full attendance of its 60 MLAs following a whip over no-confidence motion moved by the Congress.
In his resignation note, Pargat said, "I have received a whip from the party asking me to attend the Assembly today. When I had revolted against the party over some projects in my constituency, I was suspended a month ago. In any case, in the wake of betrayal of Punjab by party chief Sukhbir Badal, I put in my resignation."
There were chaotic scenes in the House on Monday when Pargat, along with the two Ludhiana-based independent MLA brothers - Simarjit and Balwinder Bains - stormed the well of the House to protest against speaker Charanjit Atwal. Atwal had refused to allow a private member bill to get back 'legitimate' money pending with the Rajasthan government on canal water being shared by Punjab since 1965. According to the brothers, the bill is Rs 15 lakh crore. During the assembly session, opposition Congress MLAs egged on Pargat to speak against his former party. "I am surprised at this government which makes a lot of noise on water issues, but when two MLAs talk about the same issue, they are thrown out of the House," he said.
SAD 59
BJP 12
Congress 42
Independent 3