Chandigarh, Oct 27 Barbs flew thick and fast and pushing and shoving became the order of the day between MLAs on Tuesday, the last day of the Punjab Assembly Session, as the opposition Congress accused the AAP MLAs of preventing their entry into the House.
Heated exchanges erupted between AAP legislators Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Jasvir Singh Raja Gill and Congress MLAs, including Partap Singh Bajwa, outside the House.
After the Question Hour began on Tuesday, Bajwa, the leader of opposition, claimed that the Congress MLAs were stopped from entering the House.
“Do you want to run the House this way?” he asked Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan.
The speaker said nobody should be stopped except those who were facing disciplinary action, referring to Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who was suspended for allegedly using derogatory language against the chair.
Unhappy over the speaker’s response, Bajwa walked out.
Near the entry gates of the House, the Congress MLAs raised slogans against the treasury benches.
A video on social media showed Congress MLAs, including Khaira, trying to go inside the House and being stopped by the watch and ward staff.
As it happened, Bajwa tore Khaira’s suspension notice in front of the media.
“There was no signature on the suspension order. They should have stopped me. But they have no right to stop Bajwa, Pargat Singh, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and other MLAs. They murdered democracy,” Khaira said.
An altercation took place between Aam Aadmi Party’s Jasvir Singh Raja Gill and Bajwa as the ruling party legislators addressed the media outside the House.
Congress MLAs raised placards above their heads as AAP members spoke to the media.
“They are not allowing us to speak,” Dhaliwal told reporters, and also blamed the opposition party for anti-Sikh riots.
Bajwa, in turn, accused the AAP government of indulging in ‘gundagardi’. Later, when the Congress MLAs spoke to the media, AAP MLA Sarvjit Kaur Manuke confronted them.
Bajwa alleged that AAP media adviser Baltej Pannu sent women MLAs to occupy the media podium and prevent Congress leaders from addressing the media.
“Instead of engaging with the opposition on issues of public importance, the AAP leadership has resorted to obstructing our right to communicate with the people. Sending women MLAs to encroach upon the media podium to prevent the opposition from speaking is shameful and reflects the government’s intolerance of questions and criticism,” Bajwa said.
He said the opposition has a constitutional duty to raise the concerns of Punjab’s people, question the government on its failures and demand accountability, but it is being silenced by the AAP.
Later, Dhaliwal sought action against the Congress MLAs, accusing them of pushing him while entering the House.
“An atmosphere of ‘gundagardi’ (hooliganism) prevails outside the House,” he said in the assembly.
Sandhwan asked Dhaliwal to give his statement in writing, assuring an action in the matter.
Ahead of the day’s proceedings, the Congress MLAs also burned brooms, AAP’s poll symbol.
Bajwa told reporters that by burning brooms, the Congress members were extending solidarity with the kin of Parvinder Singh Jhota, the anti-drug crusader shot dead in broad daylight by a chemist allegedly selling narcotics off the counter.
Bajwa said Jhota’s family has demanded Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s resignation and Congress supports that demand. Referring to the upcoming Punjab polls, Bajwa said people will give “fatwa” against the “anti-people government.”
State Congress chief Pargat Singh tore a copy of the land pooling policy, calling it “anti-farmer.”
The suspension of Khaira and the alleged denial of entry to Congress MLAs, particularly women legislators, raise serious questions about the government’s commitment to democratic principles, Pargat Singh said.
The people of Punjab would teach the Aam Aadmi Party government a lesson in the 2027 Assembly elections, he added.
(PTI News)
