Chandigarh, September 23
Laying stress upon all the pending and public interest issues of Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema has demanded the newly appointed Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to immediately convene the pending monsoon session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. He said a 15-day session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha should be convened for decisive discussions on all pending and public interest issues of the state.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Thursday, Harpal Singh Cheema said on September 3, there was a special session of the Vidhan Sabha dedicated to the 400th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur; which cannot be technically or constitutionally linked to the monsoon session. “In a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) held before the commencement of the special session on that day, Honorable Speaker Rana KP Singh had assured that the session would be reconvened in 15-20 days in which all pending issues would be discussed. Now, even September 23 has passed; therefore, a 15-day session should be called immediately,” he asserted.
“Industries are going out, crops are being ruined by counterfeit medicines and there is a shortage of fertilizers with other issues. A session of the Punjab Assembly must be convened for a joint discussion to resolve these issues,” he said, adding that two days should be dedicated to a permanent solution of anti-agriculture black laws and agricultural crisis. Harpal Singh Cheema further demanded that the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) reached upon during the previous Badal government with private power companies must be scrapped during this session; to save the people of Punjab from costly electricity and power mafia.
Cheema said the issues related to the farmers, laborers, traders, employees, and the unemployed need to be discussed in detail in the Assembly; as this pending monsoon session would be the last session of the present government. He further said that there should be a live telecast of the proceedings of the session and the media should be allowed to enter the assembly complex with dignity; as the media had been harassed for a long time and were not allowed to enter the assembly complex under the guise of Covid rules.
Reminding the Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi about his tenure as the Leader of Opposition, Harpal Singh Cheema said, “When Channi was the Leader of Opposition, he used to demand a long session from the then Badal government; so the pending monsoon session should be for at least 15 days.” The AAP leader said that Punjab and its people were in big trouble as various mafias were rampant in the state, with the youth being ensnared in drugs.
