Ruckus in Punjab assembly

Chandigarh, June 15: Chaos erupted in the Punjab Assembly on Thursday after the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Shiromani Akali Dal insisted on separate adjournment motions leading to clashes.

On the second day of the budget session, Akali Dal legislators accused Punjab Local Government and Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu of using unparliamentary language.

Sidhu could be seen shouting slogans against the Akali Dal leaders while they were demanding an adjournment motion on the issue of the promise made by the Congress government on a loan waiver for the farming community.

The AAP legislators sought to bring a separate adjournment motion on the land dealings of Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh.

However, Speaker Rana K.P. Singh did not allow the adjournment motions, leading to noisy exchanges. The speaker adjourned the house twice.

The AAP legislators started a sit-in protest inside the assembly building, saying they wanted to highlight the wrongdoings of Rana Gurjit Singh.

AAP leader H.S. Phoolka said they were holding their own "session" in the assembly building as they were not allowed to raise their voice inside the house.

The Congress had promised a loan waiver for the debt-ridden Punjab farmers in the run-up to the assembly elections earlier this year. The Congress, now led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, won 77 seats in the 117-member state assembly.

Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal said the Akali Dal was bereft of issues and was unnecessarily raising the farmers' debt and loan waiver issue.

He said the Congress-led government was committed to its loan waiver promise which would be announced in the budget for the state to be presented in this session.