AAP demands minimum 40 sittings of assembly a year

The party’s state unit co-president, in a letter to the assembly speaker, also demanded that the proceedings of the House be telecast live.

The main opposition in Punjab assembly, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on Tuesday demanded that minimum 40 sittings of the House in a financial year be made compulsory as per rules.

AAP’s Aman Arora has termed the track record of the Capt Amarinder Singh government from 2002 to 2007 too “quite disappointing”. (HT File)

The party’s state unit co-president and the MLA from Sunam, Aman Arora, in a letter to the assembly speaker, also demanded that the proceedings of the House be telecast live.

In the letter, the AAP leader said under the assembly rules it has been laid down that in a financial year, there shall be three sessions, namely budget, summer/monsoon and winter.

He said the rules further laid down that the total number of sittings in all the sessions put together “shall” not be less than 40. “The use of the word shall in this rule shows the unflinching intention to compulsorily have minimum of 40 sittings,” the legislator said.

“Before 1969, almost every year more than 40 sittings took place. But it is beyond understanding as to what held back the successive legislatures after 1997 from holding not more than 20 sittings in any of the financial years,” he said.

Live telecast of the proceedings will ensure accountability of its elected members leading to a more vibrant and strengthened democracy, which unfortunately has been denied to the electorate of Punjab all these years, the AAP leader claimed.