Assembly notes: Pargat slams AAP govt over illegal mining

Congress MLA Pargat Singh asked Cabinet Minister Aman Arora to accompany him to see the extent of illegal mining in Hoshiarpur. “During the last Assembly session, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had agreed to accompany me to Hoshiarpur. Though the CM sahib spared time to go to the Hoshiarpur Forest Guest House recently, he did not pay a visit to see illegal mining,” the MLA said.

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Resolution over draft agri marketing policy

The Punjab Vidhan Sabha will take up on Tuesday a resolution against the draft National Policy Framework on Agriculture Marketing. The resolution will be moved by Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian. While the state government has already rejected the policy, farmer unions had demanded that a resolution be passed in the House.

Five first-time legislators attend session

Four newly elected MLAs — Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, Ishank Chabbewal, Gurdeep Singh Randhawa MLAs — all from AAP, and Kuldeep Singh Dhillon from the Congress, made their debut in the Vidhan Sabha on Monday by participating in the Zero Hour.

Opposition targets govt over CM’s absence

While Congress’ Jalandhar MLA Pargat Singh said the absence of CM Bhagwant Mann on the opening day of the session showed his seriousness for the legislative business, Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said Mann had avoided giving answers to burning issues of Punjab. Shiromani Akali Dal slammed the AAP government, saying the “deliberate sidelining” of Mann proves that he is no longer in control.

Minister takes to Urdu poetry to hit out at Cong

Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh recited a popular Urdu couplet of poet Mirza Ghalib, but with a twist, while responding to the criticism of his government over a defunct medical oxygen-generation plant in Gurdaspur. Replying to Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bjawa, he accused the previous Congress govt of “wasteful” expenditure. “Hum ko maloom hai Congress ki haqiqat lekin/dil to bahalane ko Ghalib yeh khayal achcha hai”, he said replacing word jannat with Congress. He also drew the poet in Bajwa, who quoted famous poet Shauq Bahraichi and said, “Barbaad gulistan karne ko sirf ek hi ullu kaafi hai/anjame gulistan kya hoga jab har shaak pe ullu baitha ho.”

Legislators flag poor condition of roads

While Dera Bassi AAP MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa raised the issue of the pathetic condition of roads maintained by the Punjab Mandi Board, especially due to diversion of traffic after the closure of the Shambhu border due to the farmers’ stir, Congress MLA from Shakot Hardev Singh Laddi and SAD’s Majitha legislator Ganieve Kaur also raised the issue of poor condition of roads in their constituencies.