Congress demands Haryana minister booked for ‘sexual harassment’ step down

Opposition Congress demanded Sports Minister Sandeep Singh's resignation over sexual harassment charges. Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said the matter was sub judice and couldn’t be discussed.

There was uproar in the Haryana assembly on Monday after members of the opposition party, the Congress, demanded the resignation of sports minister Sandeep Singh, who is facing charges of sexual harassment.

Soon after Zero Hour started on the second day of the ongoing session, Congress MLAs led by Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda asked for the resignation of the sports minister, who they said is facing a charge sheet filed by the Chandigarh Police.

Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said the matter couldn’t be discussed as it was sub judice, however, the Congress MLAs went to the well of the House, demanding his resignation. The House was then adjourned for half an hour.

Mr. Hooda said the minister should resign on moral grounds or else the chief minister should ask for his resignation. Chief Minister Manohar Lal rejected the demand.

Subsequently Congress MLAs demanded a discussion on the July 31 communal violence in Nuh. The Speaker refused saying the issue was sub judice. The Congress MLAs reminded him that only the ‘demolition drive’ matter was sub judice and their demand was for a discussion on the Nuh violence and the conspiracy behind it.

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij condemned the Nuh incident. He said the BJP-JJP government is democratic and secular and allows people of every faith to freely practice their religion.

Mr. Vij said that as part of the investigation into the Nuh incident, a total of 500 persons have been arrested. “Perhaps the Nuh incident was engineered by the Congress, but they (Congress) do not want to hear the truth. Notice has been issued to Congress MLA Maman Khan in this connection,” he said.