Congress party is all geared up to make the most out of Punjab Vidhan Sabha session, starting from Thursday, which would possibly be the last session of the present House before the 2017 polls.
Armed with enough ammunition to attack the ruling SAD-BJP combine over the issues of law and order situation, drug menace, and others, the party has, in fact, written to the Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal seeking time for discussion on “these current issues”.
Besides, the party has also proposed a Bill demanding debt waiver and debt relief for farmers as a “private member bill”.
The party has asked its all MlAs to ensure their presence all throughout the session, and adopt an assertive and aggressive attitude.
The Akali-BJP combine Government has “failed” on all fronts and it was the right time to “expose” them in the Assembly, said the
Congress legislative Party (ClP) leader Charanjit Singh Channi.
Channi said that he had written to the Speaker saying that the Congress party wanted time for discussion on the current issues in the coming session including drugs, farmer suicides, law and order, SYl, power, closure of industry, unemployment, development in the state, dalit atrocities.
“The major issues to be raised include the farmers’ suicides, drug scourge, denial of blue card to BPl families affiliated to Congress and the law and order situation,” he said.
Congress will also deliberate upon the alleged loot of the state’s resources like sand by the Akali-BJP Government, Channi said, adding that his party will not allow the alliance Government to use its “brute numbers” to browbeat the opposition.
Both the Congress and SAD have summoned separate party legislature Party meetings on Thursday immediately after the obituary references.
However, the Akali Dal is prepared to thump its chest for the “record development” that has taken place during the Badal regime.
Among other significant decisions, the Assembly will also ratify the constitutional amendment on Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.
During the session, four sittings will take place before being adjourned sine die on Wednesday. Opposition Congress has also flayed the Government for keeping only “few” sittings of the
session, and demanded extension of the session, at least to 20 days.
Congress MlA from Dera Baba Nanak Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa would present the private member bill titled “Punjab Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief
Bill, 2016”, demanding debt waiver and debt relief for farmers.
Randhawa said that the Bill proposed to provide for the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive state policy for ensuring Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme for farmers, for their welfare to be undertaken by the State and for matters connected there with and incidental thereto.
“The scheme will cover direct agricultural loans extended to ‘marginal, small farmers and other farmers’ and ‘other farmers’ by Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Cooperative Credit Institutions (including Urban Cooperative Banks), local Area Banks and Commission and commission agents (arthiyas),” he said.
Meanwhile, ClP leader Channi has also requested the Speaker to include the name of late Mata Chand Kaur, Sikh preacher Sant Dhadrianlwala’s close aide Bhupinder Singh Dhakki Sahibwale, all the innocent people who were killed in police firing in Bargari, among others, in the list of obituaries scheduled for Thursday.
Besides, he demanded that the names of all the farmers and farm labourers who have committed suicide in Punjab, all innocent citizens who were killed by the busses belonging to the Badal family and their close associates and all the youth who have died due to drug consumption in Punjab, to be included in the obituries.