Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann moved a confidence motion in the Punjab Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, alleging that the BJP government was trying to topple his government, PTI reported. The voting on the motion of confidence will be held on October 3.
Mann moved the confidence motion on the first day of the Assembly session, criticising the BJP for its alleged 'Operation Lotus' and the Congress for working hand in hand with the saffron party.
The AAP recently claimed that the BJP approached at least ten of its MLAs with an offer of Rs 25 crore each in order to destabilise the six-month-old government as part of its "Operation Lotus."
The House was adjourned thrice on Tuesday as Congress MLAs disrupted the proceedings. Before the motion was moved, the Congress MLAs were marshalled out while BJP legislators staged a walkout.
Speaking in the Assembly, Mann said Congress MLAs "ran away" from discussion in the House, PTI reported.
Taking a jibe at Congress over the political crisis in Rajasthan, Mann said, "Will they now teach us about House laws? First, I request that they clean their own house."
Attacking the BJP, Mann said the saffron party feels only they should be in power everywhere. "Three crore people of Punjab have faith in us. I have full faith in my 91 soldiers (AAP MLAs)," Mann said.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party has 91 legislators in the 117-member Punjab Assembly, while the opposition has 19 seats, 18 of which are held by the Congress and one by an Independent MLA.
He also slammed former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, accusing him of taking several anti-people decisions. Mann alleged that Channi might have either moved to the US or Canada and that he would have stayed back if he had run a clean government.
"I want to ask Channi where he is, where he has gone after the polls. I want to ask him about the many files which he signed in the last days of his government. There are many decisions which were anti-people," PTI quoted Mann as saying
"Why did he run away? Some people say he is in Canada and some say he is in America," the chief minister said.
The Assembly session was convened after Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Sunday gave his nod to it, after days of squabble between the Raj Bhavan and AAP government over it. Earlier, the Governor had withdrawn permission to hold a special session on September 22 to bring a confidence motion .
He then had approved the government's request to convene the House on Tuesday after it informed him that issues like stubble burning, goods and services tax and power supply would also be taken up.
Leader of the Opposition and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa said he would urge Governor Banwarilal Purohit to censure Mann for misleading him and the House over the issue of confidence motion and also get an FIR registered against the chief minister.
(With Inputs From PTI)