NEW DELHI, Oct 3: The Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had “defeated” the BJP’s “operation lotus,” a term it use to hint saffron party’s alleged attempts to dislodge a non-BJP state government, in Punjab.
The claim he made after the 117-member state Assembly “unanimously” passed the motion of confidence in the Mann government with 93 votes in favour and none against. The Congress walked out of the House before voting, the BJP had already announced boycotting the confidence motion, while the lone Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) member and the only Bahujan Samaj Party MLA, who were present in the House but did not participate in voting.
After a lengthy discussion on the confidence motion, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan put it to vote through show of hands. Announcing the results, Mr. Sandhwan said 91 (All AAP) supported the motion, while one of the three SAD MLAs who was present in the House and a lone BSP MLA “did not oppose the motion.” “So, 93 MLAs have supported the motion and none is against it. Thus, the motion is unanimously passed,” the Speaker said.
AAP has 92 MLAs, including the Speaker, in the House, Congress 18, SAD 3, BJP 2, BSP 1, while 1 is an Independent. The Assembly had taken up discussion on confidence motion, with AAP MLAs hitting out at the BJP over “Operation Lotus”, alleging a bid to topple the six-month-old government.
The AAP had earlier claimed that at least 10 of its MLAs were approached by the BJP with an offer of Rs 25 crore to each of them in a bid to topple the Mann government under its “Operation Lotus”. However, as the discussion began, Congress MLAs staged a walkout, as they were demanding that the Speaker should allot them time to speak and raise issues during the Zero Hour.
The two BJP MLAs — Ashwani Sharma and Jangi Lal Mahajan — have been boycotting the session as they accused the AAP Government of violating the Constitution by bringing the confidence motion in the Assembly.
(Manas Dasgupta)
