Congress, AAP MLAs clash over entry blockade at Punjab assembly

Congress legislators stage walkout and burn AAP party symbol after suspended MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira is turned away at the gate.

Chandigarh: Tensions between Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition Congress boiled over on Tuesday after Congress MLAs were stopped from entering the legislative assembly premises.

Leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa along with Congress MLAs burning brooms to protest against the AAP government outside the Punjab assembly in Chandigarh on Tuesday. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

The blockade triggered an altercation between AAP MLA Jasvir Singh Raja Gill and senior Congress MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, outside the gates.

The clash unfolded during a media briefing by health minister Dr Balbir Singh, who accused the opposition of deliberately disrupting his address to the press.

Inside the House, Bajwa protested the move during Question Hour. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan clarified that no legislator, aside from those under active suspension, could be barred from the assembly.

Bajwa pointed out that the security notice used to block their entry lacked the Speaker’s signature.

Before the standoff at the gates, Congress MLAs—clad in black robes and holding placards—protested outside the assembly complex by burning brooms, the election symbol of the ruling AAP, while raising slogans against the government’s policies.

The entire Congress contingent ultimately boycotted the final day of the Vidhan Sabha session in protest.

The flashpoint follows the suspension of Khaira on Friday for the remainder of the session. Cabinet minister Harpal Cheema had moved the suspension resolution, accusing Khaira of using unparliamentary language against the Chair and disrupting proceedings during a protest over the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota.