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Kadiyan elected Haryana Speaker
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 13
Dr Raghubir Singh Kadiyan, MLA from Beri, is the new Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha.

Dr Kadiyan, a three-time MLA, was elected Speaker after Mr H.S. Chatha resigned in view of his impending induction into the Hooda Cabinet. His election was, however, not without hiccups. When the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, proposed his name, the Leader of the BJP legislature group, Mr Ram Kumar Gautam, opposed it, making certain comments against him, which were expunged by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Azad Mohd, on the request of Mr Surjewala.

Before proposing Dr Kadiyan’s name, Mr Surjewala was sent by the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to Mr Gautam and Dr Sushil Indora, Deputy Leader of the INLD Legislature Party, ostensibly to ensure Dr Kadiyan’s election unopposed. After Mr Gautam walked out of the House after lodging his protest, Dr Indora supported Dr Kadiyan’s candidature. However, he added that though he and his colleagues had similar doubts about Dr Kadiyan as the BJP MLA had, the INLD members wanted to maintain the tradition of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha to elect the Speaker unopposed.

Though Mr Gautam’s comments were expunged, member made reference to them, by urging Dr Kadiyan to prove the BJP MLA wrong by his impartial conduct in the House. The Finance Minister, Mr Birender Singh, said Mr Gautam’s apprehensions were misplaced because once one occupied an august position, one would maintain its dignity. He said this he was saying from his personal experience in college days when he was asked to stand umpire in a cricket match though his own team was playing.

Mr Hooda immediately remarked that had he said this five minutes ago, his name would have been proposed for the speakership. Mr Birender Singh said he would not mind swapping places.

Earlier the House paid tributes to Mr Jai Narain Verma, a former MLA; victims of the Mina stampede; freedom fighters Patram Verma, Sultan Singh, Lakhi Ram, Phool Nath, Net Ram and Kedar Singh; and those defence personnal belonging to Haryana who were killed in anti-insurgency operations — Jaibir, Naresh Kumar, Paramjeet Singh, Jagdish Chandra, Ravi Pal, Ravinder, Kanwar Singh and Iqbal.