Chandigarh: The extended budget session of the Punjab assembly which was scheduled to be held for two days here from Friday, was cut short on the day one itself in the wake of the governor's objections over its legality.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann informed the House that since the governor Banwarilal Purohit had not given his assent to the three money Bills passed in the last session, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government would now resume the session after settling this issue.
Mann said the government would move the Supreme Court against the governor's terming the session illegal and added that the government would file a petition in the top court on October 30 against the governor's recent letter in which he had termed the session illegal.
It may be recalled that Purohit had written to Mann on Thursday that he had received three money Bills for the approval, but he was withholding his approval as the extended budget session was illegal.
A proposal to adjourn the House was moved by minister for parliamentary affairs Balkar Singh. The chief minister asked the Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan to adjourn the session sine die so that it could be convened after the decision of the apex court.
Earlier after the obituaries, the leader of opposition (LoP) and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa had also flagged the issue pertaining to objections by the governor, stating that Punjab was facing a "constitutional crisis’", something it had never seen in the past. He also asked Speaker Sandhwan to clarify whether this two-day session was legal after the governor’s objection. The Speaker had, however, held then, that the session was legal.
Mann Bajwa soar over drug issue
The House also saw heated arguments between the leader of the House, Bhagwant Mann and the leader of the opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa over the drugs trade allegations.
It happened when Mann was replying to Bajwa during Zero Hour after the latter referred to Jalandhar West AAP MLA Sheetal Angural’s allegations against the ruling AAP’s lone Lok Sabha member Sushil Kumar Rinku. Retorting Bajwa’s comment, Mann held that there could be differences between any party members and referred to former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh who had written against him (Bajwa) on involvement in drug trade.
Irked over Mann’s remark, Bajwa angrily challenged the chief minister to act against him and said (in Punjabi) - "tu jo karna hai kar lai (do what you like)."
Mann got furious over Bajwa’s address to him in which Mann held the latter had addressed him as "tu"’, an impolite way to call a person. Din prevailed in the House after which the Speaker adjourned the House for 10 minutes.
