CHANDIGARH: There was complete pandemonium at the Punjab State Assembly on the concluding day of the monsoon session. With the House seeing an uproar, a shoe was hurled at Punjab cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia, and protesting Congress MLAs threw papers at the Speaker.
With both, the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, present while the chaos began, the House saw heated exchanges between the ruling Akali-BJP benches and the Congress members. The latter raised slogans against the government inside the Assembly and demanded time to be allotted for discussion. Senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar was seen saying something to the Speaker, who stated he was "insulting the Chair" and asked him to take his seat.
Even with the Speaker suspending the Question Hour, the Zero Hour, and calling attention notices, Congress members including the Youth Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and other MLAs continued to protest near the Well of the House and flung papers, including some CAG reports towards Speaker Atwal. The watch and ward staff covered the Speaker, but Warring and some other MLAs kept throwing papers and other documents even as bills continued to be passed in the House. In the melee, a shoe was hurled from the opposition side towards the ruling benches and fell just short of where Bikram Majithia was sitting.
