Punjab Vidhan Sabha pays homage to Vajpayee, Chatterjee

The Punjab Vidhan Sabha paid homage to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on the first day of its Monsoon session today.

Chief minister and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Amarinder Singh led the state assembly in paying homage to the eminent political leaders.

At the outset of the session, a two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the departed souls.

Besides Vajpayee and Somnath, tributes were also paid to Chattisgarh Governor Balramji Dass Tandon, former Punjab minister Surinder Singla, ex-MLAs Joginder Nath and Kuldeep Singh Wadala and veteran journalist and noted writer Kuldip Nayar.

Rich tributes were also paid to freedom fighters and soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country.

Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Rana K P Singh proposed that homage be paid to all those members who had passed away since the last session.

After the obituary references to 17 eminent personalities, he passed a resolution for conveying the condolences of the House to their respective families. The resolution was passed by voice vote.

On the request of Sunam MLA Aman Arora, the name of Jangir Singh Sutantar, a freedom fighter from Sangrur district, was included in the list of obituaries.

The speaker also consented to include the name of Tarlok Singh, a victim of an alleged hate crime in the United States, on the request of Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa.

The House was adjourned for the day after making the obituary references. It will meet again on Monday.