Latest News | 2-day Punjab Assembly Session Likely to Be Stormy Affair
Get latest articles and stories on Latest News at LatestLY. The two-day Punjab Assembly session is likely to be a stormy affair with the opposition parties expected to corner the AAP government over a host of issues, including the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal, state debt and law and order.
Chandigarh, Oct 19 (PTI) The two-day Punjab Assembly session is likely to be a stormy affair with the opposition parties expected to corner the AAP government over a host of issues, including the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal, state debt and law and order.
The session, which begins Friday, has been called by the AAP government, amid a political row over the SYL issue following the October 4 Supreme Court directive, asking the Centre to survey the portion of land in Punjab which was allocated for the construction of a part of the SYL canal in the state and make an estimate of the extent of construction carried out there.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is going ahead with the session despite the governor's secretariat having said that the October 20-21 session -- being projected as an extension of the Budget Session -- is "bound to be illegal" and any business conducted during it "unlawful".
A few days ago, however, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asserted that the session is “fully valid” and “legal” and said several “pro-people” bills will be presented in the House.
This is the second time this year that a row between the AAP government and the Raj Bhavan has erupted over the summoning of an Assembly sitting. The Raj Bhavan had earlier called the June 19-20 special sitting as "patently illegal".
The session is expected to discuss the SYL canal, a project which Punjab is reluctant to complete. The state government may bring a resolution to the issue.
Besides, two goods and services tax (GST) amendment bills are scheduled to be tabled in the session.
The opposition parties will try to corner the Bhagwant Mann government over the SYL issue for allegedly “diluting” Punjab's stand in the Supreme Court.
The parties have claimed that the Mann government told the Supreme Court that it was ready to build the canal but the opposition parties and farmers were not allowing it.
Shiromani Akali Dal's senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema on Thursday said among other issues, the SYL matter will be raised in the House as the state government has "failed" to safeguard the rights of Punjab in river waters.
He also took on AAP Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, Sandeep Pathak over the SYL issue.
Pathak, in a recent statement made in Haryana's Karnal, said that Punjab and Haryana should get their rightful share of the canal water.
Our stand is very clear. Punjab should get its share of water and Haryana should get its share. No politics should be done on this, Pathak had told reporters when asked about political parties in Punjab opposing giving water to Haryana.
Cheema asked the Punjab CM to clarify whether he supported Pathak's statement.
The SAD leader further said his party MLAs would raise other issues including “rising” state debt, illegal sand mining, slow lifting of paddy crops from grain markets and drugs.
Meanwhile, Congress leader and leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa has asked Mann to give a statement on the floor of the House regarding his claim of giving 37,100 government jobs in the last 18 months.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)