Punjab Assembly: LoP Partap Bajwa targets AAP, later Cong MLAs walk out

Chandigarh, Mar 9 (PTI) Congress MLAs on Monday walked out of the Punjab Assembly after alleging that Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, who targeted the AAP government over a host of issues, was not given adequate time to talk.

Participating in the discussion on the Governor's address during the ongoing budget session here, the Qadian MLA accused the government of failing to ensure justice in the 2015 sacrilege incidents even after four years of being in power.

He also sought to know the status of the report of a select committee of the House on an anti-sacrilege bill, which proposes punishment up to life imprisonment for sacrilegious acts. The report should have been presented here, Bajwa said.

Before the 2022 assembly polls, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had promised mobilisation of Rs 54,000 crore, including Rs 20,000 crore, from the mining sector that would have been used for medical colleges, road and capital expenditure, he said.

Against the promised collection of Rs 20,000 crore per annum from mining, the AAP government could mobilise only Rs 1,200 crore in four years, he said.

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema presented the state budget for 2026-27 on Sunday.

On the Punjab government's announcement to give Rs 1,000 per month to general category women and Rs 1,500 to Scheduled Caste women, Bajwa questioned the treasury benches about the pending amount of Rs 48,000 per woman accrued over the last four years as the AAP had promised to provide the financial assistance after coming to power in 2022.

"Should women expect pending Rs 48,000 per woman for the past four years?" he asked.

Ahead of the 2022 polls, the AAP had promised to give Rs 1,000 per month to women.

Bajwa further accused the AAP government of not implementing the old-age pension scheme for government employees.

There was nothing in the budget for government employees, he said, adding that the employees have not even received the pending dearness allowance.

At this point, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann rose from his seat and asked whether Bajwa was speaking on the state budget or the governor's address.

Bajwa objected to the CM's intervention and said that he should not be interrupted while raising issues in the House.

When Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan pointed out that Bajwa had used 11 of the 16 minutes allotted to the Congress for participating in the debate, the leader of opposition (LoP) asked him to send the Congress members out of the House.

"You (speaker) are not allowing the Zero Hour. You (treasury benches) do not have the courage to listen," said Bajwa.

He then hit out at the AAP government over the issue of law and order and asked, "Is anybody feeling safe?" Nobody is safe, he claimed, adding, "Businesses are not safe. Extortion calls are coming." He cited a recent robbery of Rs 3 crore at a jeweller's house in Gurdaspur to drive home his point. People today want arms licenses because they feel unsafe due to extortion calls, he alleged.

Bajwa also pointed towards the recent murders of AAP sarpanchs. He also alleged that drugs are openly available in the state.

When some AAP MLAs interrupted Bajwa, he asked the speaker if the Congress members should leave the House since the ruling party was not letting them speak.

In response, Mann rose from his seat and asked Bajwa if they seek permission from the treasury benches before walking out of the House.

After the speaker asked Bajwa to sit down as the time allotted to the Congress was over, the LoP and other party MLAs rushed to the Well and raised slogans against the government. Later, they walked out of the House.

Earlier, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora asked Bajwa and other party MLAs to sit down and hear the treasury benches.

If they have any shame, they should sit down, he said. PTI CHS DIV DIV