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Congressman elected HP speaker

Congress candidate Gulab Singh Thakur, supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, was on Monday elected speaker of the Himachal Pradesh assembly.

A motion to this effect was moved by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. Seconded by the BJP's Parveen Sharma, and supported by all members of his party as well as that of the Himachal Vikas Congress, it was adopted by a voice vote in the absence of Opposition Congress legislators.

The Congress, for its part, has decided to take action against Gulab Singh for indiscipline.

"Contesting an election without the approval of the party is indiscipline," party spokesman V N Gadgil said in New Delhi.

The Congress legislators had earlier staged a walkout to protest Pro Tem Speaker Roop Singh Thakur's ruling that the point of order raised by Opposition leader Virbhadra Singh, Thakur Ram Lal and former speaker Kaul Singh (all of the Congress) that the sequence of listing priority for Gulab Singh's election as speaker was proper.

The Congress contention was that the nomination of its candidate Ishwar Dass had been submitted before that of the ruling party candidate and, hence, should be taken up for the motion first.

Virbhadra Singh alleged that Gulab Singh's nomination was proposed by the chief minister to encourage defection. He said the Congress had issued a whip to its members to vote for the party's official candidate. Gulab Singh's filing nomination was in violation of this and, therefore, invited disqualification.

The pro tem speaker, however, stated that according to records, it was Gulab Singh who filed papers earlier. At this, the entire Opposition stormed the well of the House, raising slogans. They threw papers towards the speaker's chair before walking out.

UNI

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