Noisy scenes were witnessed in Punjab Assembly on Monday as Opposition members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) raised slogans surrounding farmers’ issue during the Governor’s address on the first day of the Budget Session.
As Governor V.P. Singh Badnore started to deliver his speech, members of SAD shouted slogans against the farm laws and stormed into the well of the House. SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who led the party MLAs, wanted to know why the Governor had not given his assent to the Bills passed last year by Punjab Assembly, which rejected the three farm laws of the Centre.
The AAP MLAs shouted slogans against the ruling Congress government, accusing it of not fulfilling its promises and termed the Governor's address as “bundle of lies”.
Mr. Majithia, talking to journalists, said their protest inside and outside the House has also exposed the double-speak of the Congress Party. “The Governor has been sitting on the Bills and not giving his assent, which is an insult to the Punjabis. The Punjab Congress indulged in a farcical protest against the Governor outside the House today against spiralling prices of fuel and then laid out a red carpet for him to deliver his address to the House. Congress should have protested against the Governor. We had appealed to the Congress to launch a joint protest against the Governor on farm laws issue, but they didn’t protest,” he said.
Leader of Opposition and AAP MLA Harpal Singh Cheema said every year Chief Minister Amarinder Singh writes a speech for the Governor and he just reads it out in the Assembly, propagating the lies of the government. “The Congress was a party of lies, which had betrayed the people of Punjab. We have been exposing the poor performance of the Captain’s government in the Vidhan Sabha and in the court of the people,” he told reporters.
Cycle rally
AAP MLAs also staged a ‘cycle rally’ to protest against alleged unfulfilled promises of the Congress government. The rally was held from MLA hostel to the state Assembly complex.
Leaders and workers of SAD held a rally at a local ground here, and later ‘marched’ towards the State Assembly. They were stopped by the police whenparty members attempted to break barricades and move towards the Assembly complex .
