A fierce clash broke out between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and opposition Congress MLAs in the Punjab Assembly.
This dramatic political confrontation unfolded during the final day of the Punjab Assembly session. Following this clash, Congress leaders including Congress MLAs Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Partap Singh Bajwa, and Bhagat Singh were denied entry into the Assembly.
A war of words erupted between Aam Aadmi Party MLA Jasvir Singh Raja Gill and senior Congress leaders including Opposition Leader Partap Singh Bajwa.
What was the reason for the clash?
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who staged a protest in the case of the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, was suspended last Friday on the grounds that he had violated the rules of the House. Congress MLAs staged a protest today against this suspension order
Entry to the Assembly complex barred
Suspended Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Opposition Leader Partap Singh Bajwa, along with Congress leaders including Bhagat Singh, were stopped by security personnel from entering the legislative assembly complex. The Congress side alleged that they were prevented by being shown a security notice without the Speaker’s signature.
With Congress MLAs being blocked from entering the complex, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Jasvir Singh Raja Gill and former minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal directly confronted the Congress MLAs inside the assembly complex.
Scuffle
As the argument escalated, MLAs from both parties attacked each other. Aam Aadmi Party women MLAs Sarabjit Kaur Manuke and Inderjit Kaur Mann also intervened and raised slogans in front of the media.
Speaking to reporters, Pratap Singh Bajwa said,
It has never happened in Punjab’s history that an elected public representative is barred from entering the विधानसभा. Even though Shukl Singh has been suspended, he has the right to enter the assembly premises. Is this the Punjab Assembly? Or Kabul? Taliban rule is going on here. Is the Indian Constitution in force? he asked.
Boycott
Condemning this arbitrary conduct and protesting against being denied entry, all the MLAs of the Congress party announced that they would completely boycott the final day of the Punjab Assembly session.
Protest by burning a broom
Earlier, in protest against the government's failures on various key issues, Congress members burned the ruling Aam Aadmi Party's election symbol, the broom, outside the Punjab Assembly. Dressed in black robes and carrying banners, the legislators raised slogans against the ruling party.
