Congress Lawmaker Resigns From Assembly, Party In Punjab Amid Turf War

Chandigarh: Punjab Congress MLA and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's close aide, Arvind Khanna, today resigned from state Assembly and also from the party, citing personal reasons.

46-year-old Khanna is legislator from the Dhuri Assembly seat.

"I have decided to go ahead with my resignation from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and active politics to devote my time to my family and business.

"I had decided to resign in April last year, but did not do so due to some last minute personal reasons. I have already conveyed this decision to the party and the leaders," read a statement released by Mr Khanna.

Businessman-cum-politician Khanna is a close confidante and kin of Mr Amarinder Singh. He had been elected MLA twice, in 2002 and 2012, on a Congress ticket.

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The resignation of Mr Khanna has reduced the number of Congress MLAs in Assembly to 44 and necessitated by-election to the Dhuri Assembly constituency within the stipulated period of six months.

The total strength of Punjab Assembly is 117.

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This is the second time that Mr Khanna has resigned from the membership of legislative Assembly. He had earlier sent his resignation to Charanjit Singh Atwal, the Speaker of Punjab Assembly in April 2014 but he didn't turn up to confirm his resignation.

It is mandatory for a legislator to personally go to Speaker and confirm his resignation before it is accepted, Vidhan Sabha officials said.

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Mr Khanna's mother, Nagindra Kaur, is daughter of Maharaja Bhupender Singh of Patiala. He had been feeling disillusioned after Partap Singh Bajwa was made PPCC chief replacing Mr Amarinder Singh. Mr Khanna also runs an NGO 'Umeed'.