Punjab assembly session extended till October 3

The third session of the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha that began in Chandigarh on Tuesday has been extended till October 3.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the assembly’s business advisory committee (BAC). The House will have sittings on Thursday, Friday and Monday.

Earlier, the session began at 11am with Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan reading out the obituary references.

Also read: Forest scam: Punjab vigilance arrests IFS officer Parveen Kumar

The House paid tributes to former speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon, former MLA Dharambir Agnihotri, progressive farmer Jagjit Singh Hara, social worker Jagjit Singh Hara, Akali leader Avtar Singh Hit and former Punjab Civil Services officer and expert on inter-state river disputes Pritam Singh Kumedan.

The House observed a two-minute silence in memory of the departed souls before it was adjourned till noon.

Well-attended session

Besides the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, the session was well-attended with the two BJP MLAs, 14 Congress MLAs and four Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party legislators present.

The House is expected to take up issues related to paddy stubble burning, goods and services tax (GST) and power supply during the session.

Opposition parties are set to corner the government on the alleged illegal sand mining, the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal issue and law and order.

The Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is holding a parallel Janta di Vidhan Sabha (people’s assembly) at its party headquarters in Sector 37, Chandigarh. Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma said his party will not allow the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to “misuse” the House.

The Janta di Vidhan Sabha programme is seen as a counter-offensive against the AAP, which had earlier accused the saffron party of trying to topple the state government by offering money to its MLAs.

Will confidence motion be introduced?

Governor Banwarilal Purohit had on Sunday given his nod to convene the House after days of squabble between the Raj Bhavan and the government over holding an assembly session.

Earlier, the governor had withdrawn the permission to hold the session on September 22, when the government wanted to bring a confidence motion only. It will be interesting to see whether the AAP government brings a confidence motion in the session.

The AAP had recently claimed that at least 10 of its MLAs were approached by the BJP with an offer of ₹25 crore each in a bid to topple the six-month-old Punjab government under the saffron party’s “Operation Lotus”.

Asked whether a confidence motion will be brought in the House, minister Aman Arora said the decision in this regard will be taken by the chief minister and the party. Further asked whether a confidence motion was discussed in the cabinet meeting held on Monday evening, Arora said there was no discussion on it.

Meanwhile, leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa has written to the Speaker, seeking discussion on issues, such as the SYL Canal, sacrilege, law and order, the AAP’s poll promise of ₹1,000 a month to women, unemployment and illegal sand mining, during the session.