Punjab Vidhan Sabha Special Session: When Congress MLA Aruna Chaudhary Schooled Cabinet Minister

Congress MLA Aruna Chaudhary was seen schooling Cabinet minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond when he was linking MGNREGA to Dalits repeatedly during the special session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh on Tuesday. Chaudhary got up to tell Sond that it should not just be linked to Dalits as it was providing jobs not just to SCs but also to poor, labourers, farmers and common people. Sond appeared to be taken aback as the AAP government turned the new job scheme largely into a Dalit affair, choosing most of their speakers for the debate from the SC community, including Cheema, Kataruchak, Ughoke, Gyaspura and Pandori.

Sharvan Singh, a 10-year-old boy from Punjab’s Ferozepur, who was awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar by President Droupadi Murmu on Friday for his service to Indian soldiers during Operation Sindoor, was a special guest at the Vidhan Sabha. He was seated in the Governor’s gallery and was welcomed by the Speaker. The members thumped their desks, lauding Sharvan’s courage.

Speaker Kultar Sandhwan asked BJP MLA Ashwani Sharma to cover his head when he rose to pay tributes to Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh in the Assembly. Covering his head with a handkerchief, Sharma said, “It’s an honour for me.” Before him, BSP member Dr Nachhattar Pal spoke with his head covered.

Punjabi juttis from Kotkapura, the native place of Sandhwan, made way to the Vidhan Sabha and were exhibited at the members’ lounge. It is said to be an initiative by the Speaker, who brought dealers from his area to the Assembly.

Speaking on the VB-G Ram G Act, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema expressed his concerns over the consequences of agitation against the scheme. “What will protesters do if they have to protest? Will they say G Ram G scheme ‘murdabad’? This will amount to sacrilege, and the BJP will be responsible for this desecration. The world respects Lord Ram; using a religious name for a government scheme is a political tactic to shield the government from criticism. But this creates a dangerous precedent where protesters seeking wages or rights can be labelled as being disrespectful to religious sentiments.”

The Opposition Congress was torn between its member Sukhpal Singh Khaira, and supporting the resolution against replacing MGNREGA with the VB-G Ram G scheme. When the Speaker named Khaira and asked the watch and ward staff to remove him physically, Congress MLAs did not leave the House in his support, even as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann told them, “Either sit down or walk out.”

As AAP MLA Manvinder Singh Gyaspura said that “farmers forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the bills by putting a knee on his neck,” BJP MLA Ashwani Sharma protested, stating it was an insult to the Prime Minister. “Speaker Sahib, low-level language has been used about the Prime Minister in front of you. This is an insult to the Prime Minister,” Sharma said. To this, the Speaker said he would get it checked. Later, Cabinet minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said, “It’s nothing, but just a Punjabi idiom.”

MGNREGA workers reached the visitors’ gallery of the Vidhan Sabha during the special session on Tuesday when the House was to pass a resolution against the VB-G Ram G scheme. The Speaker welcomed them, and Harpal Cheema was seen waving at them.