Lock The Opposition”: Bhagwant Mann To Speaker Amid Chaos In Assembly

Chandigarh: 

The Punjab Assembly on Monday witnessed chaotic scenes during the discussion on the state budget when Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann engaged in a heated argument with the Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa following the former’s request to the Governor to “lock” the opposition in the assembly.

Before the beginning of the discussion on the budget, Chief Minister Mann handed over an envelope to the governor, stating that he had brought a gift for him. The envelope contained a lock and a key.

The Chief Minister, then, asked the governor to lock the opposition inside the assembly, so that they could not “run away” during the discussion, which later triggered a heated argument between LoP Bajwa and the Chief Minister.

An agitated chief minister Mann asked Bajwa to tell the central leadership of the Congress not to “bother” giving seats to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

“Who does Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi sit with? With me. Have you ever sat with them? On the one hand, you are making agreements (on seat sharing) with us. Go and tell them (Sonia and Rahul Gandhi) not to give Kurukshetra, Delhi and Gujarat (Lok Sabha) seats for us,” Mr Mann said.

Later, the house was adjourned for 15 minutes.

LoP Partap Singh Bajwa, while speaking to the reporters, said, “The Chief Minister said that the Congress does not know how to listen hence the doors of the Assembly should be locked from inside… Are we labourers? We have not seen such a weak Speaker… The CM used inappropriate words for everyone.