Chandigarh Diary: Stubble burning: ‘Mere sloganeering won’t do’

Stubble burning: ‘Mere sloganeering won’t do’ 
In a recent address at the Punjab Agriculture University during the Kisan Mela, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann was back to his humorous best. He criticised the slogans to spread social messages. He offered two instances, stating that we have been exposed to family planning messages since we were young, such as “Hum Do Hamare Do” and “Don’t Give Dowry” (Dulhan Hi Dahej Hai), and he asked, “Have we been able to control the growing population of the country?” Has the dowry custom been abandoned? He claimed that putting an end to stubble burning in the state requires a scientific strategy rather than just writing slogans.

AAP MLA caught on wrong side of law
Four days after AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi was seen riding a motorcycle without a helmet during a protest march near the Punjab assembly against the cancellation of a special session of the Punjab assembly on September 22, the Chandigarh Traffic Police had issued a challan to Gogi, an AAP MLA from Ludhiana (West). Following a photo of the legislator driving without a helmet that was posted by traffic activist Harman Singh Sidhu and widely shared on social media, the member was handed a challan. Later, Gurpreet expressed regret and admitted that he should have worn a helmet. He also stated he would pay the challan himself.

Legislator’s wife reprimands officials 
Beant Kaur, the wife of Gurdit Singh Sekhon, an AAP MLA from Faridkot, was unable to get seats for herself and her guests at the “Virasat-e-Faridkot” event, where popular Punjabi musician Satinder Sartaj was playing. She allegedly got angry and reprimanded senior district officials in Faridkot for failing to arrange seats in the “VVIP” gallery because all of the seats were already taken. The officers vacated their seats for the MLA’s wife and her guests, but she did not get pacified and left the programme in a huff. However, Sekhon asserted that the arrangements were poor and refuted claims that his wife reprimanded any officers during the programme.