Chandigarh: A special session of the Punjab Assembly on the floods witnessed heated exchanges on Friday, after Irrigation Minister Barinder Goyal presented a proposal seeking ₹20,000 crore in aid. The proposal also condemned the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for not releasing even token money out of the ₹1,600 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Pratap Singh Bajwa questioned the Centre and PM Modi’s claims, saying, “The Prime Minister says ₹12,000 crore is lying with the Punjab government, while Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Cheema say it is only ₹1,500 crore. The House should be told who is lying—the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister. Punjab deserves to know the truth.”
Bajwa attacked the state government, alleging that the Chief Minister was in hospital when PM Modi visited Punjab. He further said, “The whole of Punjab is submerged. It has now become Kangla Punjab, not Rangla Punjab. There should be a thorough investigation into the floods. The Irrigation Minister must resign and the department’s secretary, Krishan Kumar, should be suspended.”
He compared the handling of flood relief with the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund during the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming that CM Mann was avoiding direct relief funding to escape scrutiny under RTI.
Responding to the opposition, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema accused the Congress of “acting like an agent of the BJP” by questioning flood aid. He countered, “Who bought the land for sand on the river bank? Why are you afraid of the pamphlet?”
