Drug abuse, poor fiscal health likely to dominate 3-day Punjab Assembly session

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 1

The three-day session of the Punjab Assembly is slated to begin on Monday. It is going to be anything but calm with the Opposition set to seek accountability from the AAP government on various issues and farmers set to protest outside the House over their demands.

The legislative agenda

• Information gathered from the Vidhan Sabha secretariat revealed that 277 questions have been sent by the MLAs for this session, of which 40 starred and 40 unstarred will be taken up on Tuesday and Wednesday
• Of the 40 calling attention notices received by the Vidhan Sabha, six will be listed to be taken up during the session
• Other than this, the government will bring a Bill to amend the Punjab Panchayat Election Rules to bar anyone from contesting elections for panches and sarpanches on party symbol
• Amendment to the GST Act will also be tabled for approval in this session, besides a Bill on doing away with NOCs for those building houses in illegal colonies is also expected to be brought up for discussion

Farmers to march towards vidhan sabha

• Hundreds of farmers owing allegiance to BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) from across the state have started converging at the Dasehra Grounds in Sector 34
• They propose to march towards the Vidhan Sabha on Monday to press for their demands. Till late in the evening, officers of the Chandigarh Police were engaged in talks with farmer leaders, urging them not to march towards the Assembly, but in vain

The BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) is protesting against the government's failure to announce the agriculture policy. Among the chief demands of other farmer organisations is saving state's water from further depletion and contamination.

The Opposition parties, mainly the Congress, will also question the government on the drug menace, state’s deteriorating fiscal health, problems expected in the upcoming paddy season, poor public infrastructure, and the law and order situation. However, the absence of its two firebrand MLAs — Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring — who have been elected MPs, will surely help the treasury benches.

The strength of the Congress in the House has been reduced from 18 to 15 — apart from Randhawa and Warring, the Congress has also lost Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who switched sides and became an MP on an AAP ticket from Hoshiarpur.

With one Shiromani Akali Dal member, Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, too, jumping the ship to join AAP, the onus on leading the charge against the government will lie mainly on Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa. However, Dr Sukhi will sit with the other SAD MLAs as he has not yet officially informed the Vidhan Sabha of his joining AAP.

All this is advantage ruling party, which has 91 members in the House. So, AAP will be free to roll out its legislative business and pack up the session within three days.

Since the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report for 2021-22 is also expected to be tabled in the session, the ruling party may get an opportunity to attack the Congress for its “misdoings” during its regime till 2022.

The three-day session has drawn the ire of some Opposition leaders for its short duration. The first day of the session on Monday will end with just obituary references in 10 minutes. The legislative business will be taken up on Tuesday and Wednesday, after which the session will be adjourned sine die. Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Congress MLA, criticised the government for spending over Rs 70 lakh per day, but not holding a proper monsoon session to discuss important issues concerning the state.