Tributes paid to Sidhu Moosewala as AAP-led Punjab govt’s maiden budget session begins
Members of the House will assemble around 2pm and motion of thanks on the governor’s address, followed by a discussion on it
The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Friday after paying tributes to singer-politician Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, former ministers jathedar Tota Singh and Hardipinder Singh Badal and other personalities, who passed away since the last session.
Also read: Sidhu Moose Wala’s shooter reveals that he got the weapons an hour before murder
On the opening The House paid respects to Moosewala, who was shot dead on May 29 when his jeep was ambushed by armed assailants in Mansa district.
Rich tributes were paid to Tota Singh who had served as the agriculture and education minister in the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government.
The members also paid tributes to former MLAs Sukhdev Singh Sukhladhi and Shingara Ram Sahungra, Arjuna awardees Gurcharan Singh Bhangu and Hari Chand and freedom fighters Tara Singh, Swarn Singh, Crora Singh and Sukhraj Singh Sandhawalia.
A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of the departed souls during the obituary references.
Oppn to take on AAP govt on law and order
The members will reassemble at 2pm for the motion of thanks on the governor’s address, followed by a discussion on it.
The opposition, including the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal, are geared up to launch an offensive against the ruling AAP over law and order during the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government’s maiden budget session.
Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema will present the budget for 2022-23 on June 27, and a general discussion on the budget will take place thereafter.
According to the tentative schedule, the budget session will continue till June 30. Opposition Congress, BJP and SAD have targeted the Mann government over the alleged deteriorating law and order, especially in the wake of last month’s killing of Moosewala. They have also slammed the state government over “unfulfilled promises”.
Paperless budget to be presented
The chief minister had last month said that his government would present a paperless budget.
The Punjab assembly had in March passed a vote-on-account for the first three months (April-June) of the financial year 2022-23.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in March after winning 92 of the 117 Punjab assembly segments in the state. The AAP government had sought suggestions from people for the state budget, which minister Cheema had said would be a “janta budget (people’s budget)”.
The ruling dispensation had received suggestions from people to allocate more funds in education, health and agriculture sectors, which sources said, are among the key focus areas of the government.
The challenge for the AAP will be to get the state economy back on track. Mann had recently said that the AAP government’s focus was to provide jobs to youngsters, develop schools and hospitals, and eradicate corruption and mafia to make the state ‘Rangla’ (vibrant) Punjab again.