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Told not to attend Lok Sabha, Mann says BJP, Akalis, Cong ganged up

ByPTI, Chandigarh
Jul 25, 2016 09:00 PM IST

Hours after Bhagwant Mann was told by the Lok Sabha speaker not to barred from attending the monsoon session till a decision is taken on the Parliament video issue, the AAP MP accused the BJP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of joining hands to suppress my voice in view of the Punjab assembly polls due early next year.

Hours after Bhagwant Mann was told by the Lok Sabha speaker not to barred from attending the monsoon session till a decision is taken on the Parliament video issue, the AAP MP accused the BJP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of joining hands to suppress his voice in view of the Punjab assembly polls due early next year.

Bhagwant Mann claimed he has been “barred” from raising issues of public by being not allowed to attend the House proceedings.(HT File Photo)
Bhagwant Mann claimed he has been “barred” from raising issues of public by being not allowed to attend the House proceedings.(HT File Photo)

He claimed he has been “barred” from raising issues of public by being not allowed to attend the House proceedings. He said the “grand alliance” of BJP, Congress and Akalis has hatched a “conspiracy against me as I am very active in the House and raise issue of the public”. “It has happened in the wake of Punjab polls,” he claimed.

Also read | Torturous to sit next to drunk Mann, change my seat: Khalsa

Also read | I am ready for a dope test, declares Bhagwant Mann

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said Mann’s video-recording of the Parliament House complex that he beamed live on Facebook had put its security “in peril” and asked him not to attend the House till a decision is taken on the matter by a nine-member committee she set up to probe the issue.

The panel, chaired by BJP’s Kirit Somaiya, has been asked to submit its report by August 3, while Mann has time till July 28 to submit his explanation to the panel.

Also read | Parliament video puts Bhagwant Mann in a spot again

“With this decision, it means that I cannot raise issues of public till August 3. They could have told me to appear before the committee and allowed me to attend the House to raise issues of the public. Attending the Session in Parliament is my right. They have encroached upon the rights of lakhs of people,” he said. However, Mann said he will follow the “orders” of the speaker. “But I should be allowed to put my side as well,” he said.

The AAP MP said the members of the panel are the same people who have been making hue and cry over this issue and have been demanding his suspension. He further claimed he had tendered a written apology and maintained that by making the video he did not intend to compromise the security of the Parliament.

“I just wanted to apprise people about the process of selection of question in the Parliament because people used to ask us why their questions are not raised. I wanted to show them the questions to be asked are selected through a lucky draw. It was an educational video,” Mann said.

He also accused his political opponents of diverting the issue from the atrocities on Dalits.

“Akalis never raised issue of farmer suicide, they never spoke on unemployment and suddenly they have shown concern about security,” he said.

In the nearly 12-minute video, Mann filmed his vehicle crossing security barricades and entering Parliament. However, he later deleted the video.

Also read | Parliament video row: AAP defends Bhagwant Mann, hits out at BJP

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