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Punjab budget session: Opposition tears into AAP over ₹1,000 scheme, corruption, law & order
AAP legislators from Mansa and Guru Har Sahai accuse Congress MLA Pargat Singh of character assassination, seek corruption evidence; Congress MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra says least importance given to law and order
The debate on the budget, presented by finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Sunday, saw heated exchanges between the opposition and the ruling benches at the Punjab Vidhan Sabha here on Monday.
Leading the charge from the opposition, Congress MLA Pargat Singh termed the budget as jugglery of figures and said that fulfilling the most important guarantee made by AAP regarding providing ₹1,000 to women of the state with just few months left for the assembly polls itself showed the government’s intent to garner votes of women.
“Most of the guarantees that the Bhagwant Mann-led state government claimed to have fulfilled have turned out to be a bundle of lies. The AAP guarantee made before the 2022 assembly polls was to bring justice in Bargari sacrilege case. Can anybody tell what has happened to that guarantee?” said Pargat Singh.
Recalling AAP’s second guarantee on ending corruption, the MLA cited the case of AAP’s Mansa MLA Dr Vijay Singla. “He was arrested on corruptioncharges. At that time, the CM himself had told the media that he had a video of the MLA admitting that he accepted the money in favour of a tender. But we all know the MLA is now very much part of the AAP,” Pargat said.
Meanwhile, Singla accused the Congress MLA of individual character assassination. Singla said the matter is the court and Pargat Singh was unnecessarily raking up the issue.
In his earlier charge, Pargat also named another AAP’s Guru Har Sahai MLA, Fauja Singh Sarari, who was unceremoniously shunted out as minister. Targeting Pargat of misleading the house, Sarari said, “If Pargat has any evidence, he should lay it before the house, otherwise, he should not unnecessarily target us.”
Earlier, Punjab’s social security, women and child development minister Dr Baljit Kaur initiated the discussion, terming the budget a historic step towards ensuring dignity and empowerment for every section of society, particularly women.
Congress MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra, citing “marginal” increase in the allocation for home affairs and jails department, said the government has given least importance to improve the law and order.
He said the budget lacks ideas to strengthen technology to improve law and order situation in the border areas. “In Gurdaspur district, cases of loot, ransom, murders and threat from across the border have made things worse for commoners,” he said.
NRI and parliamentary affairs minister Dr Ravjot Singh said the Punjab government remained firmly committed to building a society based on equality, dignity and welfare for all sections of society.
MLA Ishank Kumar Chabbewal appreciated the state government’s initiatives for the forthcoming 650th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Ravidas, which will be commemorated across the state with nagar kirtans, kirtan darbars and cultural programmes.
The MLA further the state government for naming the Adampur airport after Shri Guru Ravidas Ji and allocating ₹140 crore in the budget for its development.
Independent MLA Rana Inder Partap Singh said the government’s claims regarding ₹10 lakh health cover per family per year and keeping budget proposal of meagre ₹2,000 crore for this task appeared a bundle of lies.
