Uproar in Punjab Assembly: CM Mann takes on Congress leaders Bajwa, Warring and Khaira

Protesting against the chief minister’s action of presenting the padlock, Opposition MLAs entered the well of the House shouting slogans. The House was then adjourned for 15 minutes as the confrontation between the Congress and AAP MLAs escalated.

When the House resumed, Mann took potshots at the Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, state Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira.

“Are they dictating the House? They want to run the House as per their rules. They come here and shout slogans, hold placards. They say sessions are small. Now a 15-day session is being held and they are not letting the House run. This is why people have taught them a lesson and reduced them to 16-17 seats. Next time these will also go,” Mann said, addressing the Speaker.

The chief minister added that the lock was to keep the Congress MLAs inside the House and not outside.

As Bajwa and other Congress MLAs continued to shout, the Speaker reminded both sides that a discussion was being held. “It is wrong to say your bit and then not listen to the other side,” he said.

“If they want to go out, let them go so that we can run the House and they cannot come inside again. They cannot hear the truth. Speaker saab, give them an excuse to leave,” said the chief minister.

The Speaker repeated that the reference to the lock was symbolic and that the CM had rightly made the remark. Mann said, “You can come to take nazara (fun). Get photos clicked. Their sole aim is to come into power. Our father did not smuggle gold biscuits like their father. They come here wearing shawls worth Rs 1.25 lakh. We are workers. We have members who are doctors. We have never said like your finance minister that our treasury is empty. Our niyat (intention) is pure and our treasury is full.”

Addressing Sukhpal Khaira, the chief minister added, “Khaira sahib are you in the Congress? Where are you these days? Cameras should show that when the development of Punjab is being talked about, the Congress is shouting, ‘Give us power. give us kursi (seat)’”.

“Sometimes when a child is afflicted with terminal illness he is asked what he wants to become in life, and is often given the SSP’s chair for a day. Bajwa will not get the chair. Bajwa saab, come and sit here (the chief minister’s seat) and get the feeling for 30 minutes as the people will not give it (to you). “Cycle da vee stand hunda. Ae taa dodhiyan wala motorcycle ne, kade idhar kade odhar (Even a cycle has a stand. They are like the motorcycle of a milk vendor which has no stand, it is sometimes on this side, sometimes on the other),” said Mann.

Issuing a warning to Raja Warring that action was imminent in a scam, Mann said, “Saareiyan diyan filan paiyan mere kol (All files are lying with me)”. He also questioned Raja Warring as to why the bodies of PRTC buses were fabricated from Rajasthan at the insistence of Congress leader Harish Chaudhary.

There was another confrontation between the AAP and Congress MLAs, almost leading to physical contact, when the Treasury benches took objection to Congress legislator Sukhpal Khaira addressing the Speaker as ‘tu’. Mann said Khaira did not even know how to address the Speaker with respect. “What is ‘tu, tainu’?” he asked.

The Speaker asked the MLAs not to cross the floor of the House and to maintain decorum.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Balkar Singh also moved a resolution over the conduct of Congress MLAs, barring Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar, for disrupting the address of the Governor on March 1. The House adopted the resolution, condemning the alleged misconduct, and referred the matter to the Privileges Committee.