Chaos In Punjab Assembly As Congress Calls Session Illegal After Guv's 'Precarious Course' Remark

Punjab assembly witnessed massive chaos on Friday, the first day of the 2-day session of the extended budget sitting, after AAP and Congress raised slogans over the legality of the session.

Punjab Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan (L), Punjab Guv Banwarilal Purohit with CM Bhagwant Mann ( Image Source :X (@Sandhwan) | PTI )

The scenes inside the Punjab assembly were chaotic on Friday after Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that the two-day session being held was legal after Congress sought his ruling in the wake of the governor's observations. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has called a session despite the governor's secretariat denying permission for the October 20-21 session, saying it is "bound to be illegal" and any business conducted during it is "unlawful", as it was an extension of the budget session, reported PTI.

"If the session is being held it is a legal session. As speaker, this Chair deems the session as legal," Sandhwan informed the House after Congress member Partap Singh Bajwa sought his ruling in the matter.

Congress MLAs continued to raise questions on the issue and cited a letter of the governor to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann calling the sitting illegal. Bajwa said that Governor Banwarilal Purohit had written that this was an illegal session.

"We do not know whether this session is legal or illegal," he said and the speaker replied that it was legal.  "I don't have any communication from the governor," Sandhwan said, reported PTI. 

Reacting to it, Bajwa said, "There is a big constitutional crisis in Punjab today. The governor has said this is an illegal session. You are the custodian of the House (speaker)...the governor has not given his assent to many bills earlier. If the session is illegal, then the bills which are being brought, it defeats the whole purpose."

This comes after a recent tussle broke out between the Governor and AAP government in the state. On Thursday, the Punjab governor wrote to the chief minister, withholding his approval for the three Bills, slated to be tabled in the two-day assembly session.

"Strongly suggesting the Bhagwant Mann government to call either a monsoon or winter session instead of choosing to continue on this "precarious course", Governor Purohit had said in the letter. As soon the House was to take up the Question Hour, Bajwa and some other Congress MLAs stood up.

"There are many issues in Punjab which have to be discussed... the governor says the session is illegal," Bajwa said. To this, the speaker said that Punjab Vidhan Sabha is for discussing all issues pertaining to Punjab.

Later, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema slammed the Congress MLAs for unnecessarily raising hue and cry, as noise and chaos engulfed the House. Cheema told Congress members that "the speaker has pronounced that the session is legal. Bajwa sahab the speaker has given his ruling. Now, you should sit down and participate in the discussions".

"On what issues will you speak. People of Punjab know Congress destroyed Punjab...You sold waters of Punjab, you destroyed Punjab. SYL land was acquired when your party was in power," he said.