Punjab Assembly budget session adjourned after stormy proceedings

Chandigarh: The budget session of the Punjab Assembly has been adjourned until 11 am on Monday following a turbulent session. As Governor Gulab Chand Kataria began his address, opposition members launched protests, prompting the Congress to stage a walkout.

Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa led the walkout, citing police action during the farmers’ agitation and an attack on a colonel and his son in Patiala.

During the session, Jalandhar MLA Pragat Singh accused Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan of making remarks linking the farmers’ protests to rising drug addiction. However, Sandhwan denied the claim, saying, “Show me a single statement like this. Don’t talk without facts.”

In Zero Hour, Bajwa raised concerns over an alleged assault on a colonel and his son on March 13. He said that the colonel’s wife reported that 12 plainclothes police officers were involved in a parking dispute, during which the officers assaulted the colonel and removed his turban, despite him showing his ID card.

Bajwa compared the incident to a similar case in 1992, when the Army Command had intervened, leading to the removal of the then SSP. He demanded the removal of Patiala SSP Nanak Singh, alleging that he attempted to shield his subordinates.