Chandigarh, Oct 22 The Punjab Congress on Thursday mounted an attack on the AAP government after the first day of the state assembly session concluded within 10 minutes, alleging the Bhagwant Mann government “ran away” from the House rather than replying to the state’s important issues including law and order and drug abuse.
Following obituary references, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan adjourned the sitting till Friday on the first day of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha session.
Earlier, the Question Hour, Calling Attention Notices, resolutions and other business were proposed to be taken up after obituary references.
Speaking to reporters here, Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh said the first day of the Assembly session concluded in just nine minutes.
Instead of replying to questions on crucial issues, including the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, the government chose to evade accountability and “run away” from the Assembly, alleged Singh.
“We wanted a debate on the law and order, farming and other issues in the House,” he said.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa also slammed the AAP government and said his party has been demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over Jhota’s murder.
“He (Mann) did not come to the House today,” said the Congress MLA.
The LoP further said the speaker did not conduct the non-official business and claimed that the opposition parties were not taken into confidence in this regard.
“It is the first moral defeat of AAP in five years. They have conceded defeat. Defeat was writ large on the faces of ministers and MLAs,” he told reporters here.
“We reiterate that wherever Punjabi is staying, they are unanimous in their view that the law and order in Punjab has collapsed; no life is safe in the state. We demand his (Mann’s) resignation and he cannot run away,” said Bajwa.
Before the commencement of the Assembly session, the Punjab Congress burnt an effigy of Mann outside the Vidhan Sabha complex over the law and order and drug menace issues.
Claiming that AAP has “failed” on all fronts, Bajwa targeted the Mann government over the issue of drug menace, law and order and the state’s debt burden.
“Drug has reached every house. Nobody is feeling safe.
“Punjab’s economy is in doldrums. The state’s debt has reached Rs 5 lakh crore,” he said.
Slamming the AAP government over the issue of the murder of the anti-drug activist, Bajwa said neither the chief minister and ministers nor the party president met Jhota’s family.
Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh alleged that there was no visible governance in Punjab with every segment including government employees, computer teachers, ETT teachers and roadways employees were on roads for their rights.
However, instead of resolving their grievances, the government was looking for ways to avoid them, he said.
He said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had made tall promises about governing Punjab, but the state was now witnessing administrative “mismanagement and a clear lack of accountability”.
He alleged that those who had been running Punjab from Delhi had now politically distanced themselves from the situation, but they could not escape responsibility for the damage caused to the state.
Pargat Singh said that once the Congress forms the government, accountability will be fixed for everyone responsible for “harming” Punjab’s interests and “doing injustice” to its people.
Referring to the Jhota case, Pargat Singh said the accused had allegedly been issued a firearm licence despite facing five cases.
Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent visit to Punjab, Singh said political rhetoric alone during such visits would not resolve the state’s problems.
The central government must explain what concrete steps it has taken so far to curb the drug trade in Punjab and safeguard the state’s interests.
(PTI News)
