Punjab budget session: Cong MLAs raise farmers’ issue, disrupt guv’s speech
The Congress members entered the well of the House and raised slogans against the central and state governments over their handling of the issue, forcing Purohit to cut short his address. The governor had read out only a few lines from his 35-page speech amid the uproar when he discontinued his address and declared that it may be “taken as read”.
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit’s address in the Vidhan Sabha on the opening day of the budget session on Friday was disrupted by the opposition Congress legislators on the issue of the state farmers’ stir.
The Congress members entered the well of the House and raised slogans against the central and state governments over their handling of the issue, forcing Purohit to cut short his address. The governor had read out only a few lines from his 35-page speech amid the uproar when he discontinued his address and declared that it may be “taken as read”.
The commotion began as soon the governor reached the podium to deliver his customary address. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring immediately sprang to his feet and raised the issue of the death of a young farmer following a clash between the protesting farmers and Haryana Police at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 21. Warring said homage should be paid to Shubh Karan Singh before taking up any other agenda. “It will be good if the governor pays homage to the deceased farmer,” he said.
Leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa also joined his party colleague and raised questions over the zero FIR registered by Punjab Police against “unnamed police personnel” of Haryana. He also spoke about Haryana sealing its borders with Punjab to stop the protesting farmers from heading to Delhi to press their demands.
Purohit requested the Opposition members to let him speak as they will have ample time to discuss all these things after his speech. “As per the agenda and custom, I am supposed to deliver my address. After my speech, you can raise any issue. I agree there might be so many serious questions, but this is the time for my speech. Why are you obstructing. This is not fair,” he told them. As Purohit started reading his speech, the Congress members again insisted that the issue of the farmer’s death be taken up first. The assembly speaker also urged them to let the governor complete his speech, but they did not pay heed and entered the well of the House, raising slogans against the AAP and BJP governments in Punjab and Haryana, respectively. They also demanded registration of FIRs in injuries to over 300 protesting farmers during clashes with Haryana Police at Shambhu and Khanauri. At this, the governor said it was difficult to continuing the speech. “As per the rules, I am reading out the first and last lines of my address. This address should be taken as read,” he said, winding up his speech. The ruling AAP members sat quietly throughout.
Later, Bajwa claimed that this is for the first time in the history of the Punjab assembly that the governor has cut short his speech. “We told the governor that we respect him, but the address that he is about to read is a bundle of lies,” he told the media outside the House. Hitting out at the Bhagwant Mann government for registering an FIR against “unnamed police personnel,” he said Mann could not protect the territory of the state and should resign as he has no moral right to continue in his position.
“A case should be registered against Haryana home minister Anil Vij for the police atrocities against the protesting farmers,” demanded the LoP, who was flanked by several party legislators.
Cong only wants ‘cheap publicity’: Cheema
Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema hit back at the Congress members, stating that by obstructing the governor’s address, they have insulted the House. “The Congress members used to stay awake at night and protest in this very assembly to seek longer sessions to debate on public issues. Today, they did not let the governor deliver his address. They did not want to hear the achievements of the Mann government,” Cheema said, accusing them of creating a “drama”. He claimed that the Congress members boycotted the governor’s address because they wanted cheap publicity.
Another cabinet minister Aman Arora said even before the governor started his address, the Congress members started calling it a bundle of lies. “They should have let the governor deliver his address or read it first instead of behaving ridiculously and disrupting the proceedings,” he said.
