Bhagwant Mann-Led AAP Govt To Bring Confidence Motion, Punjab Assembly Session Extended Till Oct 3

Earlier the session was scheduled to be held on 22 September, but the Governor Bawarilal Purohit did not allow the session and had extended it till September 27.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. (Image Source: File Photo)

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led AAP will bring a confidence motion during the ongoing assembly session to prove “people’s trust in the government”.

Punjab Legislative Assembly session, which was earlier convened for a day, has also been extended till October 3. 

Earlier a special assembly session was called by Chief Minister Mann to be held on September 22, but Governor Bawarilal Purohit did not allow the session and called it on September 27.

Earlier, at 11 a.m., Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan started the session by reading the obituary references.

Former Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon, former MLA Dharambir Agnihotri, progressive farmer Jagjit Singh Hara, social worker Jagjit Singh Hara, Akali leader Avtar Singh Hit, and former Punjab Civil Services officer and expert on inter-state river disputes Pritam Singh Kumedan all received tributes from the House.

Before adjourning till noon, the House held a two-minute silence in commemoration of the fallen souls.

Sandhwan also stated that the House Business Advisory Committee has chosen to extend the session till October 3, as opposed to the previous tentative timetable of one day.

Minister Aman Arora told reporters outside the Assembly complex that the chief minister will present a confidence resolution in the House.

The AAP administration has a 92-member majority in the 117-member House, but he claims that the BJP and its leadership at the Centre attempted to destabilise the state government.

"So, it is our duty that three crore people of Punjab are told there is no danger to the mandate they have given us," Arora said. 

After days of wrangling between the Raj Bhavan and the government over calling an assembly session, Governor Banwarilal Purohit gave his approval to summon the House on Sunday.

Previously, the governor had withheld permission to hold the session on September 22 because the administration only planned to introduce a confidence motion. 

The AAP has alleged that the BJP approached at least ten of its MLAs with a 25 crore offer to destabilise the six-month-old Punjab government as part of the saffron party's "Operation Lotus."

Meanwhile, opposition leader Partap Singh Bajwa has written to the Speaker, requesting that topics like as the SYL Canal, sacrilege, peace and order, the AAP's election pledge of Rs 1,000 per month for women, unemployment, and illegal sand mining be discussed during the session.