The Punjab Assembly session beginning on October 22 is set for confrontation, with the opposition preparing to target the state government over law and order, the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, unpaid dearness allowance for government employees, rising debt, drug-related deaths and the Central Bureau of Investigation probe into an alleged cash-for-transfers case.
The session is scheduled to continue until October 27. Its first day will begin with obituary references, followed by non-official business, including calling attention notices and resolutions moved by members. The opposition is expected to use the proceedings to question the government’s record on public safety, finances, employee payments and implementation of its electoral and administrative commitments.
The Congress plans to demand that the next Assembly elections be conducted using voter lists prepared before the SIR exercise and updated through door-to-door physical verification. The party also intends to seek protection of voters’ constitutional rights and greater transparency from the Centre and the Election Commission over the electoral-roll process.
Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said the Congress would raise law and order, the drug menace, farmers’ concerns over prices in mandis, unpaid DA and the state’s economic condition. “Though the session is brief, we will raise every single one of these issues,” he said.
The killing of Jhota in Mansa is expected to be a central law-and-order issue. Congress MLA Sukhwinder Singh Kotli said the opposition would also raise alleged growth in gangsterism, extortion calls and drug-related suicides, including the death of Gulzar Singh in Sangrur. These issues place the focus on the state’s response to drug networks, violent crime and the protection available to activists and residents confronting the drugs trade.
Financial pressures will form another major line of attack. Kotli said employees were waiting for their dues and alleged that the government had not fulfilled its promise to revive the Old Pension Scheme. The opposition is also expected to seek a white paper on the number of government jobs provided during the Aam Aadmi Party government’s tenure. The claims will be contested in the Assembly and were not independently established in the report.
The Congress is further expected to question the government over the ongoing CBI probe into the alleged cash-for-transfers case. Kotli said the probe had affected the government’s claims of zero tolerance for corruption. The report does not provide details of the allegations or the present stage of the investigation.
The treasury benches plan to respond by presenting the AAP government’s four-and-a-half-year record. Its members are expected to highlight policies that the government says have reduced farmer suicides, expanded access to canal water and raised the state’s underground water table. They also plan to raise proposals such as reopening the silk route for trade with Central Asian countries.
Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh said the government had previously passed resolutions that were not followed through after notification. The Assembly’s proceedings from October 22 to 27 will determine which of these disputes receive formal discussion and whether the government provides specific responses on law and order, finances, electoral rolls and pending employee demands.
