Capt asks Speaker: Have you still not heard Majithia’s expletives

Taking full responsibility for the screening of a video at a rally in Muktsar on Sunday, which showed Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia hurling abuses at Congress MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh at the Assembly, state Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday said the Speaker's order of expunging the abuses from Assembly records or banning its display was irrelevant since it was already in the public domain.

Questioning the conduct of Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, Amarinder asked why he was not willing to take any action against Majithia. "Just because you do not want to listen or watch what Majithia said does not mean you can force others to do the same. All members present in the house, journalists in the media gallery and others present heard what he (Speaker) claims to be ignorant about," he said.

Claiming that he had ordered screening of the video and none of his MLAs should be held responsible for it, Amarinder said if the Speaker has any problems, Atwal should deal with him and not harass his MLAs.

Meanwhile, Atwal returned from New Delhi on Monday after consulting constitutional experts regarding the matter. "I met old friends of the Parliament and they will tell me what can be done in a day or two. We will then see what can be done for breach of privilege of the House by showing expunged proceedings," he said.

The SAD on Monday condemned Amarinder's statement against the Speaker, describing it "as highly unconstitutional, undemocratic and unfortunate." "The statement has once again proved that Congress leaders are habitual of speaking against those constitutional bodies which do not work according to their wishes," SAD spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said.

"Earlier, Amarinder has spoken against the appointment of Punjab Lokpal and their central leaders openly criticised the working of the Comptroller and Auditor General and other constitutional bodies, as they had exposed the corruption of the Congress-led UPA government," Cheema said in a statement.

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