Punjab: 2-day winter session from today, Opposition upset over short duration

The session has been convened by the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government primarily to conduct legislative business, whereas the opposition parties are gearing up to target the state government over the Sultanpur Lodhi clash, law and order, illegal mining and state debt.

The two-day winter session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha will begin on Tuesday with the opposition Congress questioning its short duration.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann slammed the opposition parties for not having any issue to raise against the state government. (HT File)

The session has been convened by the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government primarily to conduct legislative business, whereas the opposition parties are gearing up to target the state government over the Sultanpur Lodhi clash, law and order, illegal mining and state debt.

The state government will table three important money bills - the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023, that could not be brought before the House in the special session last month. The Punjab Canal and Drainage Bill, 2023, which aims to regulate and manage canals and drainage in the state, is also likely to be tabled in the winter session. The bill was cleared by the state cabinet on November 20.

Governor Banwari Lal Purohit had withheld approval to the money bills and four other bills passed by the state assembly following a standoff with the state government over the prorogation of the budget session which was continued with intermittent adjournments. The money bills were cleared by Purohit after the state government approached the Supreme Court, which, in its November 10 judgment, ruled that governors cannot be at liberty to keep bills pending indefinitely. The apex court also did not spare the state government, saying its actions of keeping the assembly in suspended animation amounted to defeating the Constitution.

Describing the two-day winter session as “inadequate” for addressing the pressing issues in the state, leader of opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa said that there should be a minimum of 10 sittings of the House.

“The two sittings scheduled to be held on November 28 and 29 are not sufficient for a threadbare discussion on issues facing the state. What are you scared of? When they were in the opposition, your present ministers and MLAs used to ask for more time to speak in the assembly,” he said, claiming that the AAP had a lot to hide. He said the AAP has 92 MLAs but lacks the strength to face 25 opposition legislators.

Referring to the three-day protest started by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha on the Chandigarh-Mohali border, Bajwa said the Congress supports their demands. “Their demands are genuine. Nothing has been done on MSP and withdrawal of FIRs registered against farmers during the stir,” the Congress leader said before hitting out at the AAP government over the spiraling state debt, rampant illegal mining, failure to implement the old pension scheme, pending dearness allowance installments of employees. He also accused Mann of turning Punjab into a “police state”. All these issues need to be discussed in the state assembly, but the duration of the session is too short, he said.

Meanwhile, chief minister Bhagwant Mann slammed the opposition parties for not having any issue to raise against the state government. “The Vidhan Sabha session will commence tomorrow. Several bills will be tabled in the House,” he said while addressing a gathering in Dhuri.