AAP's Phoolka quits as Punjab Leader of Opposition

Chandigarh: Senior lawyer and AAP legislator HS Phoolka on Tuesday resigned as the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly to be able to continue to fight cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims in courts.

Phoolka submitted his resignation to Speaker Rana KP Singh here on Tuesday.

His move follows directions from the Delhi Bar Council disallowing Phoolka from contesting cases of the riot victims in various courts, saying that he held an "office of profit" as Leader of Opposition, due to which he enjoyed the rank and perks of a state Cabinet Minister.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will now have to choose a new legislature party leader.

Phoolka had earlier said that he had asked party National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal to select somebody else as the legislature party leader and had suggested the names of Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Kanwar Sandhu and Aman Arora.

"I will continue to fight for the rights of the riot victims which I have been doing for so many years," he had said.

Having emerged as the second largest party with 20 legislators in the 117-member Assembly in the February elections, the AAP has got the post of the Leader of Opposition.

This was the first outing for AAP in the Punjab Assembly polls. It named Phoolka as its leader in the house in March.