Chandigarh, March 6 Congress MLAs raised slogans against the AAP government and staged a walkout from the Punjab Assembly during Governor Gulab Chand Kataria's address on Friday.
Despite Kataria requesting the opposition party's MLAs to raise their issues at the right time, the Congress legislators continued to shout slogans against the Bhagwant Mann government and later walked out of the House.
After Kataria started reading out his address on the first day of the Assembly's Budget Session, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa rose from his seat and highlighted the issue of law and order in the state.
Kataria told the Congress leader that he would get time to raise such issues. "You have the right to oppose, use it at the right time. This is my request," the governor told Bajwa.
While the Congress leader refused to sit down and continued to raise certain issues, Kataria resumed his address. After some time, the governor again requested Bajwa to use his right to oppose at the right time.
Congress MLAs, including Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, and Sukhwinder Kotli, who were sloganeering against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, trooped to the Well of the House.
Barely 17 minutes into the session, the Congress legislators staged a walkout.
Later, talking to reporters outside the House, Kataria said the governor's address showcases the achievements of the state government, besides talking about its future plans. The governor said he tried his best to ensure that all MLAs listened to his address.
"But perhaps they did not have that intention and that is why they walked out," he said, referring to the Congress MLAs. "My request even now is that as much as you mark your issues on the floor of the House, you will be in advantage, but if you do not use the floor for recording your issues, it is your loss," he said.
After the governor's address concluded, the national anthem was played for a second time to mark the end of the sitting.
The governor asked the Speaker that 'Vande Mataram' should also be played at the beginning or the end of the session.
Later, Kataria said the Centre had changed the pattern and 'Vande Matram' is played at the beginning and the national anthem at the end of House sittings. "'Vande Mataram' is now being played in every state," he said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Bajwa said the party MLAs walked out of the House to protest against the alleged failures and "broken" promises of the AAP government.
Bajwa hit out at Punjab ministers Aman Arora and Harpal Singh Cheema for holding a press conference instead of attending the governor's address in the House.
"If the AAP government claims that everything is functioning smoothly in Punjab, then what was the extraordinary urgency that forced its own ministers to desert the Assembly in the middle of the governor's address? Why could the press conference not wait until the proceedings were over? Their actions clearly demonstrate nervousness and an inability to defend the government's performance," Bajwa added.
Bajwa said the AAP government has no credible answers to the serious questions being raised by the Punjab Congress regarding governance "failures and unfulfilled" commitments.
He said the ruling party had come to power in 2022 by making tall promises to the people of Punjab, but nearly four years later those promises remain largely unfulfilled.
"The list of failures of the AAP government is so long that it cannot be counted in a single day. From deteriorating law and order to unemployment, the drug menace and collapsing governance, the government has failed to deliver on every major promise it made to the people," he said.
Ministers Cheema and Arora launched a scathing attack on the Congress, condemning the party's decision to "boycott" the governor's address.
They asserted that the opposition's "disruptive behaviour" and sloganeering in the House were desperate attempts to divert public attention from the state's developmental milestones.
The Congress government's legacy in Punjab is defined by the growth of liquor, sand and transport mafias rather than the state's treasury or its people. While the previous regime allowed state resources to be plundered, the current AAP government has focused on fiscal discipline and real development," alleged Cheema.
Cheema slammed the Congress MLAs for walking out of the House, despite the fact that the governor requested them twice to listen to his address.
