Badal Sr, Sukhbir give oath-taking a miss
Chandigarh, March 24, 2017: Father-son duo of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal were conspicuous by their absence on the opening day of the four-day Assembly session which commenced here on Friday.
Both were the only exceptions among 117-member State Assembly who failed to take oath as the newly elected MLAs. All others were administered oath by the Speaker on the opening day.
The newly constituted Assembly is the first one in which Badal Sr is not even the Leader of the Opposition as the honours has gone to HS Phoolka, the first-timer AAP MLA from Dakha constituency. Badal has been a five-time Chief Minister of Punjab.
This time, AAP which contested Punjab Assembly election for the first time, is the principal opposition party in the House piping Badal’s Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).