E-Paper
3 MPs from flood-hit Punjab boycott Vice-President election
On day PM Modi visiting flood-affected Gurdaspur in Punjab and Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, MPs Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa and Amritpal Singh cite no flood relief package released by Centre yet.
Three Lok Sabha members from Punjab on Tuesday boycotted the Vice-Presidential election in protest against the Centre’s delay in releasing a relief package to flood-hit Punjab.
Shiromani Akali Dal’s lone MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Faridkot Independent Lok Sabha member Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa and his jailed Khadoor Sahib counterpart Amritpal Singh abstained from taking part in the process to elect the 15th Vice-President of India in which National Democratic Alliance candidate CP Radhakrishnan is pitted against the Opposition bloc’s B Sudershan Reddy.
The death toll in the Punjab floods has risen to 51 after heavy monsoon rain over the past week caused the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers to swell and inundate several districts across the state, leaving thousands affected and prompting large-scale relief operations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kangra in Himachal Pradesh and Gurdaspur in Punjab on Tuesday besides undertaking an aerial survey of the flood-related situation.
Announcing its decision on X, the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD said: “Punjab and Punjabis have always stood by the nation whenever and wherever there has been a crisis. But today Punjabis themselves face a severe crisis because of the unprecedented floods. Almost one-third of the state lies submerged with houses and crops destroyed. It is a man-made tragedy caused by the Punjab government’s negligence…The SAD is engaged in helping the people, and when Punjab is facing a tragedy, the country goes to Vice-Presidential elections. People of Punjab are upset and angry with the state government and the Centre because neither Punjab nor the central government nor the Congress has come to help. The SAD represents the sentiments and voice of the people, therefore it has decided to boycott the poll.”
Faridkot MP Khalsa accused the Centre of adopting a step-motherly attitude towards Punjab as no financial support has been released for the flood-affected state by the Union government.
The first-time MP, who is the son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassin Beant Singh, said that PM Modi’s visit to Punjab on Tuesday “is just a formality”. He said that Modi’s aerial review was meaningless as the flood situation had started improving and life was limping back to normalcy after 10 days.
“The Centre has no empathy for Punjab and Punjabis. Floods ravaged the state for days, where several people died, villages were submerged and the kharif crops were damaged. But the Modi government has not extended any financial support to date,” he said.
Jailed Khadoor Sahib MP and Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) leader Amritpal Singh had also decided to abstain from the Vice-Presidential elections, his father Tarsem Singh said. “We, as a party, are going to boycott the elections. Both our MPs—Amritpal Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa are boycotting the elections. The BJP-led Centre is committing excesses against us. The Punjab flood appears to be a big conspiracy. The Centre paid no heed. Secondly, our Bandi Sikhs (Sikh prisoners) are not being released.
Amritpal Singh, who is lodged at the Central jail in Dibrugarh, Assam, under the National Security Act, had the right to vote in the elections via postal ballot.
