Jalandhar West heads for bypoll as speaker accepts Angural’s resignation
Sheetal Angural, who had tendered his resignation on March 28, a day after joining the saffron party, on Sunday, had written to the speaker urging him to allow him to withdraw his resignation from the assembly
Punjab assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has accepted the resignation of Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural, who had switched to the BJP from the AAP two months ago, paving the way for a bypoll in this key Doaba segment.
Angural, who had tendered his resignation on March 28, a day after joining the saffron party, on Sunday, had written to the speaker urging him to allow him to withdraw his resignation from the assembly.
The notification issued by the Vidhan Sabha secretariat on Monday stated: “It is notified that consequent upon the acceptance of resignation of Sheetal Angural, MLA, the seat of 34-Jalandhar West (SC) assembly segment in the Punjab legislative assembly has fallen vacant with effect from May 30.” With Angural’s resignation, the number of AAP’s elected MLAs has been reduced to 91 from 92 in the 117-member House.
Punjab could see more byelections as the incumbent AAP has fielded nine sitting MLAs, including five cabinet ministers, in the LS polls. Those who win will have to resign from the state assembly, necessitating byelections.
Those in the fray include NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal from Amritsar, transport minister Laljit Bhullar from Khadoor Sahib, sports minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Sangrur, agriculture minister Gurmeet Khudian from Bathinda, and health minister Dr Balbir Singh from Patiala.
In the 2022 assembly election, Angural defeated the then Congress candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku (now in BJP) by a margin of 4,253 votes.
The action against Angural has been taken according to the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution, also known as the anti-defection law. The law states that a member of a House, belonging to any political party, shall be disqualified if he voluntarily gives up membership of his party.
On delay in accepting the resignation, Sandhwan said his office had to follow due process. “The Lok Sabha elections also delayed the process to some extent,” he said.
Sandhwan, in a communiqué on May 9, had summoned Angural to his office for a personal hearing on June 3 for a decision on his resignation, but the meeting was rescheduled on June 11 as per the letter dated May 29.
Angural reached the Punjab civil secretariat in Chandigarh on Monday but couldn’t meet Sandhwan. “I came to know about my resignation being accepted only through media reports on Monday after. I went to the speaker’s office and submitted my formal application for withdrawing my resignation,” he said.
Angural said he is exploring legal options. “The whole process was followed in a haphazard and illegal manner, and I will approach Punjab and Haryana high court, challenging my disqualification as a member of state legislative assembly,” he said.
He added that he had tendered his resignation before the notification of the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, believing that it would be accepted immediately and byelection for Jalandhar West would be held along with parliamentary elections, just like Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
Angural said it was important for him to save his membership, refusing to comment on his affiliation with the BJP.
A senior BJP leader said Angural kept the party leadership in the loop before seeking withdrawal of his resignation. “The decision was taken after discussion with legal teams so that in case of his disqualification, the matter could be contested legally,” he said.