Chandigarh, May 3
Among the distinguished legislators, past and present, who gathered for the Punjab Legislative Assembly golden jubilee celebrations today were Chaudhary Ranbir Singh, Mr Chand Ram, Mr Amar Singh Dhanik, Mrs Chanderawati, Rao Nihal Singh, Mr Banwari Lal, Mr Khurshid Ahmed, Giani Gurdit Singh, Mr Jagjit Singh Anand, Mrs Sarla Sharma, and Mrs Pritpal Kaur Wasu.
Rao Nihal Singh, Mrs Chanderawati, and Mr Chand Ram had the distinction of being members of the Pepsu Assembly, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and later the Haryana Assembly. Ch. Ranbir Singh was the Irrigation Minister of Punjab when the Bhakra Dam was dedicated to the nation. Mrs Sarla Sharma was a member of the Punjab Assembly when Mr Partap Singh Kairon was the Chief Minister. Later, she became a member of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee.
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The repeated demand raised by several legislators for the revival of the Upper House of the Punjab Assembly was endorsed and greeted with thumping of desks.
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Punjabi dominated the proceedings of the function. If the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, started with Punjabi, the Speaker, Dr Kewal Krishan, delivered his speech in Hindi and the Governor, Lt-Gen. JFR Jacob (retd), spoke in English but ended his speech with ‘’Sat Sri Akal’’.
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There were legislators spanning two generations. If Mr Surjit Singh Barnala was accompanied by his wife as well as MLA son, Mr Gaganjit Singh, Mrs Jagdish Kaur Dhillon, a former MLA, came along with her MLA son, Mr Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon. Similarly, former Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal was present with his MLA son, Mr Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal.
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Mr Umrao Singh had to be bodily lifted to seat him.
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The absence of Mr Satyapal Dang and Mrs Vimla Dang was felt by many as was that of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. Most of the former key Ministers were also absent.
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Most of the proceedings could not be heard in the Press Gallery, where the address system was inoperative. Copies of the souvenir were in short supply. Mediapersons faced problems at the gate at the hands of security personnel, despite intervention by the Public Relations staff. Such were the arrangements for the pressmen that even the toilet was locked.
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For the function, additional chairs were placed in the well of the House. Marigold garlands decorated the interior. Bottles of mineral water were placed on tables in the House. The visitors’ galleries were empty.
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Quotes on democracy from Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru’s speeches were put up in the House. A few of them read: ‘’Democracy must be selfless’’, ‘’Democracy cannot be successful without discipline’’, ‘’True democracy can never come through untruthful and violent means’’.
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The participants observed two minutes’ silence as a mark of respect to those who died this morning following the crash of an IAF Mig-21 in Jalandhar and prayed for the early recovery of the injured. The Speaker announced the cancellation of the celebrations and dinner organised for the delegates.
