If AAP wants to strengthen democracy, it should ensure 100 days of session: Bajwa

Inside, it was picture in contrast where Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the former transport minister who managed to pull out a victory among 18 Congress legislators, was seen humbly folding hands to ruling AAP leadership as he proceeded to take oath as an MLA.

Warring stood up and especially greeted AAP MLA from Bathinda Urban Jagroop Singh Gill as AAP legislator proceeded to take oath. Warring has been a bête noire of former finance minister Manpreet Badal who was defeated by Gill.

AAP MLAs during Oath taking of newly elected MLAs of 16th Punjab Legislative Assembly on Thursday at Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh. Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh

There is new government in Punjab, unprecedentedly governed by a new party, which emerged as primary opposition in 2017 elections by winning 20 seats when there were projections that fledgling party was set to form new government.

The new formation has opposition talking. Congress legislator Pratap Singh Bajwa who got elected from Qadian and has the distinction of being party of Congress group of 18 in Vidhan Sabha while talking to The Indian Express said that constitutionally the AAP government should ensure at least a hundred day session a year now.

“Earlier, Punjab assembly sessions used to run for 100 or 120 days as envisaged by forefathers of the Constitution. Now for last fifteen to twenty years, there have been two sessions of seven to eight days in a year, which have been also due to Constitutional compulsion. Had that compulsion not been there, it would have been five day sessions each in five years. I want to say that if AAP want to strengthen democracy, they should run winter session, budget session and monsoon session for minimum hundred days on the lines of the Parliament.” Bajwa told The Indian Express.

Bajwa added, “The reason for having long sessions is that majority of the AAP MLA, 80 percent of them have entered Vidhan Sabha for the first time. None of the MLAs and the chief minister has any experience of ministry. They are completely raw. Only if there is long session, they will have experience of rules and regulations of Vidhan Sabha.. They will study, research and learn about their departments.”

Congress MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring poses with his wife before taking oath as an MLA. Kamleshwar Singh

“We are lawmakers. Our job is to make new legislations in departments like excise and jail manual. I would first expect in first place that if they continue with the old practice after being voted as new party against traditional parties, the very purpose of people voting them to power will be defeated,” said Bajwa.

Bajwa added that Kejriwal should show his “intent and intentions”.

AAP MLA from Dirba and leader of opposition in last Congress government Harpal Singh Cheema said the AAP government would go by the business of the House and the duration of the sessions would be decided as per that.

AAP legislator Jeevan Jyot Kaur, who defeated big guns Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bikram Singh Majithia from Amritsar East told The Indian Express, “The AAP government’s focus would be on intent to work and deliver and do productive things. Dilly dallying would be a thing of past. The previous governments used to truncate the Assembly session as they had no intention to work.”

Akali MLA from Dakha Manpreet Singh Ayali, who is among three Akali nominees who made it to Vidhan Sabha and has been named partgy’s legislative head in the Assembly, said, “AAP has talked about badlaav (change). There should be a long session, so that we can raise the shortcomings.”