Din in Punjab House as oppn MLAs spar, Congress remains a spectator
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CHANDIGARH: The Punjab assembly witnessed noisy scenes on day two of the winter session on Tuesday with the opposition parties indulging in a slugfest after the Aam Aadmi Party sought a CBI probe into an alleged conspiracy against its leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira in a drug case.
AAP members’ demand, which came immediately after the House proceedings began, got a quick retort from SAD-BJP legislators. Raising slogans and flashing placards and posters, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House, throwing it into chaos. The treasury benches remained a spectator.
The AAP and Lok Insaaf Party, its alliance partner, were pressing for an adjournment motion for a discussion on the audio clip controversy, whereas SAD-B JP ML As began by raising the drugs issue and then switched to the issue of non-implementation of farm debt writeoff, a Congress poll promise.
Speaker Rana KP Singh adjourned the House for 30 minutes as the question hour for which one hour is allocated got over within half an hour. The sloganeering continued throughout the day’s proceedings. AAP-LIP legislators also staged a walkout over the issue of reduction in the number of sittings of the House.
CM Capt Amarinder Singh slammed opposition MLAs for “wasting” public money and precious time of the House by disrupting the proceedings. The assembly passed a bill making it mandatory for all MLAs to declare their property details by January 1 every year.
CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Am arin der Sing hon Tuesday accused the opposition parties of wasting public money and precious time of the House by disrupting the question hour and not allowing the state assembly to function.
Talking to reporters outside the Vidhan Sabha, Amarinder said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had turned the sacrosanct precincts of the assembly into an “akhara” (battleground). “It is against parliamentary traditions to disrupt the question hour, during which serious public issues are taken up, and the opposition should have raised any other concerns during the zero hour,” he said after the House was adjourned for 30 minutes due to continuous slogan-shouting by the opposition members.
The CM said the opposition was out to gain cheap publicity at the cost of public money. “The exchequer loses ₹70 lakh due to a day’s loss of assembly business,” he added.
Amarinder said the drugs case involving leader of opposition Sukhpal Khaira was in the judicial courts, whereas the allegations against Akali MLA Bikram Majithia were being investigated by multiple government agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate. “These are legal matters that should not be fought on the floor of the House. The issue of drugs is a serious concern for Punjab but the opposition has made a mockery of it by indulging in such gimmickry,” he added.
THE CM SAID THE OPPOSITION WAS OUT TO GAIN CHEAP PUBLICITY AT THE COST OF PUBLIC MONEY. THE EXCHEQUER LOSES ₹70 LAKH DUE TO A DAY’S LOSS OF ASSEMBLY BUSINESS, AMARINDER ADDED