Two-day Punjab assembly session begins with tributes to former PM Manmohan Singh

The two-day session of the Punjab assembly began in Chandigarh on Monday with obituary references to be followed by legislative business.

The House paid tributes to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away on December 26, 2024, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Gurpreet Singh Bassi, former minister and Rajya Sabha member Dharam Pal Sabharwal, former minister Ajaib Singh Mukhmailpur, former Rajya Sabha member and Punjab Congress ex-president HS Hanspal and former MLAs Joginder Pal Jain, Sukhwinder Singh Buttar and Bhag Singh. Besides artist Jarnail Singh, the MLAs remembered freedom fighters Kikar Singh, Kehar Singh and Karnail Singh.

Leader of opposition and Qadian Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa urged Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan to pass a resolution, recommending the highest civilian award of Bharat Ratna to Manmohan Singh.

After reading out the obituaries, the House was adjourned till 12.30pm.

The opposition parties are expected to corner the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on a host of issues, including law and order, rising state debt, deportation of illegal Indian immigrants and farmers’ plight in the session.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Daljit Singh Cheema said: “Law and order is one of the biggest issues. Besides, farmers’ plight, illegal sand mining, unemployment, drugs and higher fiscal deficit will be taken up in the session.”

He said his party legislators would also take up the issue of illegal travel agents who dupe people of lakhs of rupees in the name of sending them abroad and would seek strict action against them.

Three batches of illegal Indian immigrants, most of them from Punjab, were brought back from the US on February 5, 15 and 16 after Donald Trump took over as the US President last month.

“There are so many issues that they cannot be discussed in one day,” said Bajwa, seeking more sittings to hold discussions on the state’s main issues.

He targeted the AAP government over governance, citing that cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal had been holding the charge for 21 months of a department that “did not exist”.

A government notification issued on Friday said the administrative reforms department earlier allocated to Dhaliwal was not in existence. Dhaliwal now is in charge of the NRI affairs department only.

The previous session of the assembly was held in September last year.