Akali Dal, AAP not to attend meeting of all MPs from Punjab

Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal today decided to boycott a meeting of all MPs from Punjab called by the state government tomorrow after learning that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh would not attend it.
The Congress-led government has called a meeting of MPs of all political parties to apprise them about the state- related issues which can be taken up in Parliament.
However, the media advisor to the chief minister, Raveen Thukral said, "The chief minister was never supposed to attend the meeting of MPs. This meeting is meant to apprise and prepare all the MPs to raise important issues in Parliament."

According to an official, the all-party meeting of MPs will be presided over by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra.
"Akali MPs will not attend the meeting called by the state government tomorrow as we have come to know that the chief minister will not attend the meet," SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra here today.
"By deciding not to attend the meeting, the chief minister has shown how serious he is about Punjab and its issues," he said.

"It is against the stature and dignity of MPs that the chief minister has ignored the protocol. That is why we have decided to boycott the meeting," Chandumajra said.

Echoing similar views, Sangrur MP and the Aam Aadmi Party's state president Bhagwant Mann hit out at Amarinder Singh alleging that he has neither time for meeting the people of Punjab nor the time to discuss the issue of stubble burning with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal.
Describing Amarinder Singh as a "non-serious" person, he said, "He (the chief minister) has no time to meet Punjab MPs. Had Amarinder been taking part in the MPs' meeting, I would have definitely attended it."
Mann said that he was well aware about the issues Punjab face and would continue to raise them in Parliament.

Chandumajra, the SAD MP from Anandpur Sahib parliamentary seat, said, "First, the meeting was supposed to be held on November 6. Then we were informed that the meeting has been rescheduled for November 15 as the chief minister was busy."
"We again got a message that the meeting has been rescheduled for November 14. But again, it was changed to November 15," he said.
BJP MP and Union Minister Vijay Sampla will not attend the meeting as he is occupied with prior engagement, party secretary Vineet Joshi said.