J&K MLA issues death threat to minister

SRINAGAR: High drama unfolded in the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly on Tuesday when senior Congress minister Jugal Kishore alleged having received a ‘death threat’ from former education minister and Panthers Party MLA Harsh Dev Singh.

This prompted speaker Tara Chand to suspend Harsh Dev Singh from the House for the rest of the session.  “I have given you in writing the threat issued by the MLA.

He used invectives and tried to assault me before other members. It is a serious issue and calls for immediate action,” Kishore said.

However, Singh rubbished the minister’s accusation and admitted only having called him a ‘murderer’.

“He is a murderer because he suspended a senior assistant for selfish motives. When the latter approached Jugal after an inquiry, he refused to listen to his pleas. The man was humiliated and he passed away,” Singh said.

With the allegations and counter-allegations reaching a deafening crescendo, senior Congress leader and health and medical education minister Pandit Mangat Ram Sharma joined the issue.

He stunned the House when he said Singh had called him up a few days back and threatened to eliminate Kishore. Sharma later moved a motion calling for the suspension of the Panthers Party MLA.