30 legislators suspended from Haryana assembly

CHANDIGARH - Twenty-nine legislators of the main opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and one from the Shiromani Akali Dal were Tuesday suspended from the Haryana assembly following a ruckus they created demanding resignation of Minister of State for Home Gopal Kanda.

Speaker Harmohinder Singh Chatha suspended the legislators, including INLD’s Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, after they demanded the minister’s resignation for suspected links to a car used for a crime in Delhi.

Tuesday was the last day of the monsoon session of the assembly.

The INLD has a strength of 31 legislators in the house but two members were not present in the assembly Tuesday.

The INLD legislators led a vociferous protest inside the house just after question hour, seeking Kanda’s resignation from the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government after his (Kanda’s) name figured as the owner of a car in which a young woman was gang-raped in Delhi recently.

With the opposition and treasury benches getting involved in heated exchanges over the issue, speaker Chatha adjourned the house for 30 minutes.

When the house re-assembled, the ruckus continued with the INLD seeking Kanda’s immediate resignation. Chatha adjourned the house again for another 30 minutes.

However, the pandemonium continued even after that and the speaker suspended the legislators from the house.

Kanda had Monday denied that he owned the car in which the gang-rape took place in Gurgaon and Delhi. The car, used in the crime, was in possession of a close relative of Kanda.

Chief Minister Hooda said Monday that the matter was being probed. He said the issue involving Kanda was being investigated and whosoever was found guilty would not be spared.

He said that Kanda had already clarified on the floor of the house that the car used in the gang-rape was not his personal car.

Earlier, Kanda had said in the house that the car was never used by him till date.

“I use car bearing number HR 02 H 0007. That car used in the crime does not belong to me,” Kanda said.

Later, a privilege motion was brought in the assembly by a Congress legislator against Chautala for making false accusations against Kanda.

Chautala reiterated his demand for Kanda’s resignation from the Hooda government, saying that if crimes like gang-rape could take place in the car belonging to Haryana’s minister of state for home, no woman in the state could feel safe.