Punjab Budget session on Tuesday started on a stormy note amidst protest, with the legislators of SAD-BJP combine and Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) boycotting the Governor’s Address and staging walkouts.
While the SAD–BJP MLAs staged the walkout on the issue of farmers’ suicide, the LIP MLAs — Simarjeet Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains — objected to Governor VP Singh Badnore’s decision to address the House in English.
As the Governor started reading his speech, SAD MLA Parminder Singh Dhindsa raised objection and pointed at the rising farmers' suicides cases while blaming the ruling Congress government of not doing enough, while Bains brothers wanted the Governor to address the House in Punjabi—the state’s official language.
SAD-BJP MLAs, led by Dhindsa, protested in the well of the House shouting slogans against the government. After a brief protest, SAD-BJP MLAs staged a walkout.
HOUSE PAYS TRIBUTES TO EMINENT PERSONALITIES
Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday paid rich tributes to the former Defence Minister George Fernandes, besides other eminent personalities on the first day of the budget session.
Led by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, the Vidhan Sabha remembered several eminent personalities from different walks of life who had passed since the last session of the Assembly.
The House, after the Governor’s address on the first day of the seventh session of the 15th Vidhan Sabha, paid tributes to the former Union Defence Minister George Fernandes, ex-Punjab Ministers Dalip Singh Pandhi and Gobind Singh Kanjhla, freedom fighter Chanan Singh besides martyrs Constable Mukhtiyar Singh, Gunner Lekh Raj and Lance Naik Sukhchain Singh.
The name of Mohan Singh Bains, father of LIP MLAs Simarjit Singh and Balwinder Singh Bains, also included in the obituary references.
Speaker Rana Kanwarpal Singh proposed that tributes be paid to all those members who had passed away since the previous session.
After the obituary references to the eminent personalities, he passed a resolution for conveying the condolences of the House to their respective families. A two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the departed souls.
The Speaker also acceded to the request of Adampur MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu to pay tributes to Vir Chakra awardee Capt Harbhajan Singh.
Likewise, the Speaker also conceded the request of MLA Guru Harsahai Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi to include the names of two Assistant Advocates General namely Sandeep Singh Mann and Atinder Pal Singh also in the list of obituary references, who died recently in a fatal road accident on Ferozepur-Moga road.
AAP’s demand to include the names of farmers who committed suicides in the obituary references was not accepted by the Speaker.
GOVT SHOULD IMMEDIATELY SCRAP POWER PACTS WITH PRIVATE COMPANIES
AAP on Tuesday demanded that the Punjab government should immediately scrap the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked by the erstwhile SAD-BJP government and the private companies and bail out the people subjected to paying high power rates.
AAP MLAs, led by the Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Harpal Singh Cheema and Sunam MLA Aman Arora, accused the Badals of entering in agreement with three private companies costing the public exchequer Rs 70,000 crores annually.
“Even as the state has its own resources and infrastructure to generate enough power, people of the state had to pay the highest power tariff compared to some other states of the country,” said Arora.
On the other hand, Arora said that the government was not providing power to the poor and ‘dalit’ covered under the free power which was the outcome of the agreements inked with the private players.
AAP MLAs lashed out at the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar and other party big wigs who used to make tall promises on scrapping the agreement deals before the elections, “but no one is coming forth to talk about it even two years after assuming power”.
GOVERNOR’S SPEECH LACKLUSTER, BEREFT OF SUBSTANCE: AAP
AAP on Tuesday termed the Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore’s address as “lacklustre and bereft of substance”, while quizzing the Capt Amarinder Singh Government as to where had the party manifesto that had promised moons for the teeming millions of farmers, daily wage earners, ‘dalits’, the aged and other categories of people in the state before assuming power two years ago had been missing.