Ruckus in Punjab House: Opposition Demands CM Resignation
A day after the Punjab Assembly session began, the political temperature remained high outside the House, as the ruling party and the opposition clashed over crime, governance and accountability.
The Bhagwant Mann government charged the opposition with doing politics for its own sake, while opposition members pressed the government on the state's worsening law and order.
Barinder Kumar Goyal, a Cabinet minister, told reporters outside the Assembly that the opposition had no solid issue to raise. He said its members were making baseless points on the floor of the House that carried little meaning.
Goyal also responded to the dharna staged by the opposition outside the Assembly complex. The protest was held in support of demands for justice in the Ajay murder case in Abohar, with the victim's mother and other family members present. “This is not raising a voice of sympathy, it is only politics,” Goyal said. “If they truly care, they should go to those families and stand with them.”
On law and order, the minister said that wherever an incident happens, the law is taking its course and will keep doing so. He suggested that the opposition should first explain the conditions in the states it governs.
Ashwani Sharma, former state BJP chief and Pathankot MLA, accused the government of being scared and avoiding public issues. He said crime was on the rise and criminals were moving around freely.
Citing the Ludhiana incident and the situation in Hoshiarpur, Sharma described an attack in which eight to ten people reportedly assaulted a man sitting at his shop before fleeing. “The government has become invisible. Punjab today has no functioning government,” he said.
He further claimed that land, mining and drug mafias had gained control and that those who spoke against drugs were being silenced. Sharma said the House had become a venue for speeches, jokes and misleading statements, and that the government had lost public trust.
Other opposition legislators demanded the Chief Minister's resignation over the decline in law and order. They said the government had lost its ethical standing and that the Chief Minister's residence had turned into a centre of bribery. They also pointed out that no loan waiver had been granted and that people had received no relief. “Where gangsterism prevails, the Chief Minister should resign,” they said.
Gurdaspur MLA Barinderjit Singh Pahra spoke about murders and extortion calls being reported across Punjab. He referred to a 12 crore robbery in Gurdaspur and grenade attacks that injured several people, including a man who lost his eye. He said the Chief Minister had not visited those families or provided any compensation.