With barely three days left for Punjab Vidhan Sabha session starting from Monday, the Congress legislature Party (ClP) on Thursday demanded extension of five-day winter session to at least for 15 days to discuss “at length” the myriad issues concerning the State.
Terming the session to be “too brief” in comparison to the long list of issues the opposition party want to discuss, the ClP leader Sunil Kumar Jakhar met the Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal along with 10 party legislatures regarding the same.
In its letter submitted to the Speaker regarding the party’s purpose to take up “very important and burning issues of public”, Jakhar pointed that the issue of shortage of sand and gravel, coupled with illegal sand mining is at the top of the party’s list.
Responding, Atwal, though expressed concern and agreed upon the seriousness of the issue, left it on the Vidhan Sabha’s business advisory committee to decide on the ClP’s demand of extending the session.
The ClP has also requested the Speaker that instead of adjourning the House for a day after obituary references on day 1, the proceedings should be conducted after a half-an-hour break.
Other than spiraling prices of construction material, the opposition want to target the ruling combine on the issue of imposition of property tax and other problems in urban area, fee being charged in urban areas as regularization of unauthorized colonies, VAT refund and imposition of advance tax, lifting of paddy in mandis, inflated power bills, state’s new industrial policy and industrial power tariff, state’s financial health, among others.
“We have requested to extend the sittings of the session so that all the matters of public importance can be brought to the agenda in Vidhan Sabha. Five sittings are nothing to discuss the issues that the opposition wanted to raise. There is no use on calling the session like this,” said Jakhar.
Before this, Punjab government has summoned a one-day “emergency” session in May to discuss the issue of wealth tax “only”. Though the issue was resolved well before the session scheduled for May 3, the state government went ahead with its decision, but ended it in 15 minutes after paying tributes to Sarabjit and passing resolution declaring him as “martyr of the nation”, a day after his death in lahore.
Virtually skipping the monsoon session, the Vidhan Sabha would meet for the winter session for five days — from October 28 to November 1.
While the day 1 has been fixed for obituary references, the next two days — October 29 and 30 — has been dedicated for legislative business, and non-official business would be carried out on October 31. The house would adjourn sine-die after the proposed legislative business on November 1.
The opposition Congress, insisting that the session is going to be “too late” and “too short”, alleged that the SAD-BJP government is trying to save itself from the loads of issues the state government is facing at present, dubbing as “mere formality” the previous one-day special session.
“They are just making excuses on the pretext of the special session. There is legal stipulation to hold assembly session within six months. As their six months would have completed in November first week, they strategically called the session after delaying it as long as they could,” Jakhar told The Pioneer.
Jakhar added that the ruling alliance feared to come face-to-face with the opposition as they were aware of the issues confronting the State Government.
“We have lot of issues. And the government should be more than willing to come and discuss with the opposition these issues, especially sand, and finance. In fact, if they are accusing Congress of issuing wrong figures and statements, there could not be any forum better than the floor of the House to discuss,” he added.
SAD-BJP to chalk out strategy for this session on OCT 28
Both the ruling and the Opposition have called their respective meetings on October 28 to chalk out the strategy for Vidhan Sabha’s winter session, beginning Monday.
Calling the joint party meeting of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature parties, the leader of the House and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the MlAs of both the parties to attend the meeting immediately after the session ends on Monday.
On the other hand, ClP leader and leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Sunil Jakhar has called a meeting of party MlAs in the assembly complex before the commencement of Vidhan Sabha session.