Amid demand for minister, secy removal, Assembly passes flood resolution slamming central aid

The discussion on the resolution saw Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema sparring in the House and Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan adjourning the house for 10 minutes when both were seen posturing angrily. This started when Bajwa demanded a house committee to inquire into the work of cleaning of drains and water bodies before the floods.

He said the committee would bring out the truth. Before Bajwa, Congress legislator Aruna Choudhary had made a similar demand during a point of order during the speech of Dera Baba Nanak MLA Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, who was extolling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government that it had cleaned all drains, rivulets and other water bodies including the Sakki Nullah in Gurdaspur. To this, Dina Nagar MLA Aruna Choudhary objected saying there was no truth in these claims. She demanded a Vidhan Sabha committee to probe this.

When the discussion was going on, Bajwa also got up and demanded the committee. Cheema then alleged that Bajwa had purchased two pieces of land, 2.5 acres and 10 acres, alongside Dhussi Bund on Beas river in Gurdaspur. He alleged that he had got the previous government led by Amarinder Singh to construct a check dam by spending Rs 1.18 crore. “Bajwa Sahib bought the land from the poor farmers with a design to mine sand which was to be deposited by the river,” Cheema said.

Reacting angrily, Bajwa asked if this was the discussion on the Rehabilitation of Punjab’ resolution. He then counter-alleged that Cheema was accepting Rs 35 lakh every month from each distillery as an Excise Minister. He alleged that Cheema had a quid-pro-quo with BJP. “This was the reason they had spared Cheema in the Delhi Excise scam,” he alleged. He also said that he had paid the stamp duty on purchase of the land. Later, he accused Cheema of raising a personal issue.

With these allegations, the duo got engaged in a verbal duel. Cheema left his seat (he sits next to the leader of the house) and reached near the desk of recorders of Vidhan Sabha and Bajwa was seen shouting at him, both with angry posturing. As exchange turned heated, Cheema was pacified by his Cabinet colleagues Dr Ravjot Singh and Harjot Bains as MLAs on treasury and opposition benches backed their leaders respectively by rushing towards them. Speaker Sandhwan schooled both the sides saying that three crore people of the state were watching them and they should keep calm. His appeals to both the sides were fruitless. He then adjourned the house for 10 minutes. CM Bhagwant Mann was not present in the house at that time.

The issue of removal of Goyal and Krishan Kumar was raised once against with Congress member Rana Gurjit Singh telling the Chief Minister that a grave was already dug and the government should push these two in the grave, holding them responsible for floods, otherwise people would push the AAP into the grave.

Earlier, while initiating the discussion, on the second day on resolution, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora stated that floods were not witnessed for the first time. They blamed the previous governments squarely for the calamity. He said that AAP had notified over 800 choes which were not notified by the previous governments. These helped poor farmers whenever a river changed its course.

Congress MLA Pargat Singh said that the state leaders would have to go to Delhi to fight this out. He asked the government to register a FIR against Bhakra Beas Management Board and Indian Meteorological Department (IMD ) responsible for pushing Punjab into floods. He said, “If Himachal Pradesh can file an FIR against BBMB , why not Punjab?”

Earlier, Bajwa had stated that when the discussion was already wound up by the leader of the house on Friday, why was the House initiating the discussion again. He also raised an issue that the government was only convening special sessions while the rules provided for full fledged Budget, Monsoon/Summer and Winter session. “It is fine to convene a special session once in five years. But you cannot hold all the sessions as special session.”

Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal demanded resignation of Partap Bajwa for misleading the house and indulging in politics during floods. He said Bajwa had claimed that 7 lakh cusecs of water was released from Ranjit Sagar Dam, Goyal said the actual figure was only around 2.15 lakh cusec. This is an offence to lie on the floor of the house, he said, while demanding the resignation. He said that BAjwa was accusing him of not cleaning the Sakki nullah, while panchayats of 20 villages had honoured Goyal for cleaning the water body.

The resolution

“Whereas, the State of Punjab has been ravaged by catastrophic floods, widely regarded as the worst and most destructive deluge since the 1988 floods which historically impacted over 34 lakh people; events in and whereas, the current disaster has surpassed previous major flood independent India, such as those in 1955 and 1978, in terms of sheer scale and devastation, causing loss to over 20 lakh people in many ways, destroying crops on nearly 5 lakh acres, numerous loss to livestock, and irreparable damage to both private and public infrastructure; Punjab CM, after a comprehensive assessment, formally demanded a special and substantial financial relief package of at least Rs 20,000 Crore from the Union Government, led by the BJP, to meet this unprecedented crisis;
The House condemned the lack of response and the failure of the BJP-led Centre’s to sanction a special financial package commensurate with the scale of the worst floods faced by Punjab in decades.

The Assembly has also recorded its strongest condemnation of the Prime Minister’s Office for not responding to the elected Chief Minister of Punjab’s repeated request for a meeting, thereby insulting the people of the state, and preventing the state from making a proper and comprehensive representation of the full scale of the disaster.

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