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Law and order: Budget session set to be stormy, Oppn readies ammo to take on Mann govt
The budget session of the Punjab assembly will commence on Friday with governor Banwarilal Purohit’s address amid a tussle between the governor and the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government in the state.
Chandigarh
The budget session of the Punjab assembly will commence on Friday with governor Banwarilal Purohit’s address amid a tussle between the governor and the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state.
The session was preceded by a back-and-forth between the governor and the chief minister over the summoning of the House this time due to some unsettled issues that were raised by the former. The standoff got resolved only after the state government approached the Supreme Court on Monday against the delay in summoning of the state assembly by the governor despite the council of ministers’ decision to hold it from March 3.
The apex court, while disposing of the petition as Purohit had already summoned the assembly, pulled up both the governor and the CM for their public spat.
All eyes will be now on Purohit when he addresses the state assembly and the treasury benches as the ruling AAP has termed the Supreme Court order as victory. The discussion on the governor’s address will be held on March 6.
The session has all the makings of a stormy affair with the opposition parties, particularly the Congress, getting ready to take the state government to the mat on deteriorating law and order, excise policy and economic downturn. Leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said law and order, irregularities in excise policy and their false promises are among the major issues that will be raised forcefully during the budget session.
“The state government failed in dealing with the violence in Ajnala. There has been no action against (radical leader) Amritpal Singh and his supporters till now,” he said. On February 23, armed with spears and swords, scores of supporters of Amritpal had clashed with policemen, injuring a few of them, and then laid siege to a police station in Ajnala to demand the release of one of his aides. “We will also press for an ED probe into the excise policy of the state government, said Bajwa, who will hold a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) after the governor’s address. The SAD and the BJP have also been targeting the government on the Ajnala incident.
Mann has, however, all along maintained that the law and order situation in Punjab is under control and the state police are capable of dealing with any situation. After his meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday, the CM said the Centre and Punjab will work together on the issue of law and order.
The budget session will be held in two phases with a recess from March 12 to 21 in view of the G20 working group meetings on education and labour to be held in Amritsar from March 15 to 17 and on March 19 and 20, respectively. The budget will be presented on March 10.
