AAP, Cong slug it out over Volvo service to IGI Airport
Cong MLAS object as transport minister says previous govt didn’t have ‘honest will’ to begin service
CHANDIGARH: Acrimonious scenes were witnessed between the Opposition Congress and treasury benches in the Punjab assembly on Monday over the launch of government luxury bus service to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi.
The heated arguments on the issue started during the Question Hour when transport minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, while replying to a query raised by Leader of Opposition (LOP) Partap Singh Bajwa, said that the previous Congress regime could not start the bus service as they didn’t had an “honest will” to do so.
Bajwa had asked in a supplementary question as to why the Punjab Roadways and Pepsu buses, which have started ferrying directly to the international airport after getting a nod from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwalled Delhi government, were denied a similar access in 2018 and under what rules these buses have started plying now.
“Buses to the airport were stopped following a Supreme Court order that stated buses will stop at the inter-state terminal in Delhi. Now, buses have started after Delhi and Punjab governments took up the issue with GMR Infra that operates the airport,” replied the transport minister.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann and Kejriwal had launched the Volvo bus service from Punjab to IGI Airport from Jalandhar on June 15. While flagging off the “cheap luxury travel”, Mann had said it will end the monopoly of private transporters. Besides Jalandhar, seven cities are to be covered under the service: Amritsar, Pathankot, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Patiala and Chandigarh.
Bajwa takes potshot at AAP over Sangrur loss
Transport minister Laljit Singh Bhullar alleged that the previous Congress government could not push for the bus service as its aim was to “provide benefit to a private company”. “But now when we have honest will, the God has also stood with us and the buses were restarted,” he said.
To this, Bajwa took a potshot at Bhullar and said they also believe in God. “Akal Purakh (God) is great. That is why what results we got after five years, your government got the same in three months,” said the LOP while referring to the recent defeat faced by the AAP in Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll.
Treasury benches stood up against this statement and the speaker had to intervene repeatedly to ensure the House runs smooth.
Bajwa demanded from the minister to lay before the House the Supreme Court ruling under which the buses were stopped. Former Transport minister, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring also demanded production of any such document related to the apex court ruling.
Warring said that during the previous Congress gregime, 13 letters were written by different transport ministers to the Delhi government to start these buses up to the IGI Airport, but no reply was received.
“I wrote a letter to the Airport Authority of India and Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who replied that we should talk to the Delhi government to allow buses to ferry up to the airport,” said Warring.
During the heated debate, the Congress members and treasury benches stood up and commotion prevailed when Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira alleged a “hidden understanding” between the AAP and transporters. The transport minister reacted to Khaira’s charge strongly and targeted him with objectionable remarks that were later expunged by the speaker.
The speaker also snubbed AAP member Aman Arora who was repeatedly asking him for time in a bid to defend the government before the opposition. Later, the LOP raised the same issue during the Zero Hour as well.