CHANDIGARH: A high voltage drama was witnessed before the special Punjab assembly session began here on Monday, when the AAP MLAs and other prominent leaders of the party, led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema, burnt copies of the three black agriculture laws brought in by the Modi government at the centre and staged a protest castigating the government in the saddle.
Others present on the occasion included principal Budhram, Aman Arora, Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Prof. Baljinder Kaur, Bibi Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, Rupinder Kaur Ruby, Meet Hayer, Jai Singh Rouri, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Kulwant Singh Pandori, Master Baldev Singh (all MLAs).
The trouble started when the AAP MLAs and other leaders marched towards the Assembly after burning copies of the contentious farm laws, a heavy police force deployed near the barricades put up by them stopped them after raising objections to their black dress, which resulted in a clash between leaders and the police, including Harpal Singh Cheema, Jai Singh Rouri, Kultar Singh Sandhwan and other MLAs, leading to a traffic jam, in which some Congress MLAs were also trapped. They were later allowed to move on after the tension eased out.
While tributes were being paid during the obituary references, Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema wanted the names of the farmers who laid down their lives during the ongoing struggle added in the obituary references to enable the House to pay tributes. Other parties, including FM Manpreet Singh Badal accorded their approval to the idea put across by LoP. Those farmers who were paid glowing tributes were Mukhtiar Singh Kishangarh, Wazir Singh Kishangarh, Pritam Singh Akanwali, Bebe Tej Kaur, Jagraj Singh Gardi, Jaspal Singh Suri Mahilkal and Labh Singh Bhullar Heri who were 'martyred' during the farmers' struggle.
Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that the Raja Amarinder Singh government was serious about the issues and concerns of the farmers, saying a draft copy of the controversial legislation was not made available at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting.