Punjab Assembly Session Begins with Tributes to Former PM Manmohan Singh and Others
The two-day session of the Punjab assembly began in Chandigarh on Monday, February 24, 2025, with obituary references to be followed by legislative business. The session commenced with tributes to a range of individuals, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away on December 26, 2024.
The House paid homage to Manmohan Singh, along with several other notable figures, including AAP MLA Gurpreet Singh Bassi, former minister and Rajya Sabha member Dharam Pal Sabharwal, former minister Ajaib Singh Mukhmailpur, former Rajya Sabha member and Punjab Congress ex-president HS Hanspal, former MLAs Joginder Pal Jain, Sukhwinder Singh Buttar, and Bhag Singh. The session also remembered freedom fighters Kikar Singh, Kehar Singh, and Karnail Singh, as well as artist Jarnail Singh.
During the session, Leader of Opposition and Qadian Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa urged Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan to pass a resolution recommending the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, to Manmohan Singh. Following the obituary references, the House was adjourned until 12:30 pm.
The opposition parties are set to grill the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on a range of issues, including law and order, rising state debt, the deportation of illegal Indian immigrants, and the plight of farmers. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Daljit Singh Cheema stated that law and order is one of the biggest concerns, and that his party will also raise issues such as illegal sand mining, unemployment, drugs, and higher fiscal deficits during the session.
Cheema added that his party’s legislators will also take up the issue of illegal travel agents who dupe people of lakhs of rupees in the name of sending them abroad and seek strict action against them. The SAD had previously raised the issue of illegal sand mining, which has led to environmental degradation and health problems.
The session also saw the opposition criticism of the AAP government over governance, with Bajwa pointing out that CABINET minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal had been holding the charge for 21 months of a department that "did not exist". A government notification issued on Friday revealed that the administrative reforms department earlier allocated to Dhaliwal was not in existence. Dhaliwal is now in charge of the NRI affairs department only.
The previous session of the Punjab assembly took place in September last year.
