Reconvene Punjab Assembly session next month, says Akali Dal

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday urged Punjab Governor V.P. Singh Badnore to direct the Congress government to reconvene the Vidhan Sabha next month to discuss the burning issues of the state, saying the government has used the pretext of Covid-19 to run away from facing the ire of the people.

In a letter to the Governor, the legislative group led by Sharanjit Singh Dhillon and other SAD legislators said that this intervention is necessary as there is a complete breakdown in parliamentary procedures in the state and corrective steps need to be taken to prevent the Congress government from making a mockery of democracy.

The legislators also brought to the notice of the Governor the 'oppressive' tactics of the Vidhan Sabha Speaker and the Congress government which asked Chandigarh Police to barricade the residences of opposition legislators to prevent them from stepping out of their houses ahead of the session.

They said never before in the history of the state had the movement of elected representatives, who had already announced that they would act responsibly, been restricted in this manner.

They also urged the Governor to order an inquiry into the forced house arrest of SAD legislators. The legislative group said the one-hour session of the Assembly called by the government to fulfil its constitutional duty was against the spirit of democracy as well as parliamentary procedures.

The legislators said that other state Assemblies as well as the Parliament are being convened for duration of up to two weeks and the Punjab Vidhan Sabha should be reconvened next month and due directions should be given to the state government at the earliest.

Speaking about the pick-and-choose policy of Speaker Rana K.P. Singh, the legislators said the Speaker had deliberately made the legislators ineligible to attend the one-hour session.

"If no contact with Covid-19 positive MLAs is the sole criterion for admission as has been related by the Speaker, then the latter is also ineligible to attend the session under the same rules. So are most Congress legislators who were in close contact with their colleagues who have tested Covid-19 positive," said the legislators.