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'Operation Lotus failed': Bhagwant Mann govt wins trust vote in Punjab, Cong walks out
AAP MLAs had taken up a discussion in the 117-member Punjab Assembly hitting out at the BJP over an alleged bid to topple the six-month-old government.
The Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab on Monday won a trust vote in the Assembly by a landslide margin. The Assembly “unanimously” passed the confidence motion moved by the chief minister on September 27, as Congress members staged a walkout. BJP members, too, had announced that they would boycott the session.
Later, the AAP Punjab unit’s official handle tweeted that “Operation Lotus” had failed in the border state.
“Our MLAs are committed soldiers of (Delhi) CM Arvind Kejriwal and CM Bhagwant Mann whose only mission is to provide the best governance to the people of Punjab,” it further wrote.
AAP MLAs had taken up a discussion in the 117-member Punjab Assembly over alleged attempts of the BJP to topple the six-month-old government of Mann.
The AAP had earlier made an allegation that at least 10 of its MLAs were approached by the BJP with an offer of ₹25 crore to each of them in a bid to topple the Mann government.
After a lengthy discussion on the confidence motion, speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan put it to vote. A total of 91 AAP MLAs – out of 92 AAP members – supported the motion. One of the three SAD MLAs who was present in the House and a lone BSP MLA did not oppose the motion.
No Congress, BJP or lone Independent MLA was present in the House at the time of voting. “So, 93 MLAs have supported the motion and none is against it. Thus, the motion is unanimously passed,” the speaker said.
The Congress has 18 MLAs in the Punjab Assembly, SAD three, BJP two, BSP one and one MLA is an Independent.
The Congress had also questioned the AAP's government's move of bringing the confidence motion while stating that no rule in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha allowed the ruling party to bring such a motion.
They staged a walkout demanding that the speaker allot them time to speak and raise issues during the Zero Hour.
Monday's Assembly session was convened after the governor on Sunday gave his nod to summon the House on September 27 after days of squabble between the Raj Bhavan and AAP government over holding a session of the Assembly.
(With agency inputs)
