Row in Punjab: Congress claims CM Mann came to House drunk, he hits back

Mann said decorum should be followed in the House, where no one is supposed to sit cross-legged. The Speaker then asked Khaira to maintain order and carefully listen to the resolution. “Why don’t you go out and then use it (mobile phone)?” Mann then asked Khaira, to which the Congress MLA said even the CM’s wife sat cross-legged at the visitors’ gallery during a previous session.

This set off Mann, who said, “She corrected herself. She is not a member of the House. You even target my daughter. Ae bakwas karda (he is talking nonsense), Speaker sahib. He should be treated on the Assembly’s expenses.”

Shortly afterwards, while the debate was in progress, Khaira alleged that the CM was drunk. Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa supported him and demanded that an alcohol test be conducted on all the MLAs.

“An honourable member has levelled a very serious charge and that too on the CM of the state. If it is true, then it is a black day in democracy. You are the custodian of the House; my request is, close the doors, and get an alcohol test done on all members present,” said Bajwa.

As the Treasury benches rallied behind the CM, Congress MLAs walked out of the House. The proceedings continued in the Congress’s absence, with the House unanimously passing a Confidence Motion moved by the CM.

During the lunch break, Bajwa wrote a letter to the Speaker, signed by all 16 of the Congress’s MLAs in the 117-member House, demanding an alcometer test and dope testing of the CM and all the MLAs. “I wish to state unequivocally that the Congress Legislature Party will not join the proceedings of the House unless the Hon’ble Chief Minister clears himself of these serious allegations through the proposed testing process,” the LoP wrote.

The House was adjourned for 10 minutes after the break as the Congress demanded the Speaker’s ruling. Following the adjournment, Sandhwan rejected the demand and the Congress walked out again.

Later, addressing a press conference outside the House, Bajwa and Khaira reiterated their allegation against Mann. Khaira alleged the CM had been intoxicated at several other public events in the past. “The CM has lost confidence and sometimes when you are in such a state, you tend to imbibe certain ‘things’. But he should not have come to the House in such a state. What is the purpose of holding a session when the head of state is completely sozzled? We demand that everyone’s test be conducted,” said Bajwa.

Dismissing the Congress’s allegations, state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, “A few days ago, the government had demarcated the land of Sukhpal Singh Khaira and therefore the Congress cooked up this conspiracy to defame the CM. When the CM speaks the truth (in the House), the Congress gets rattled and levels such false allegations.”

AAP state president and Cabinet Minister Aman Arora accused the Congress of “undermining the dignity of the House” through “baseless and frivolous remarks”.