Chandigarh, October 23: The second day of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha session began with uproar in the House on Friday as Congress legislators demanded that state issues be discussed first, TV9 Punjabi and Nazarana Times reported. The Opposition pressed for a discussion on the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, the drug trade and the law-and-order situation in Punjab. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said a discussion would be held but began Question Hour, after which Congress members raised slogans against the government.

Source: TV9 Punjabi

Speaker Sandhwan suspended Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira from the session, suspending him for the remaining sittings, TV9 Punjabi reported. National Times Media reported that Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema moved a privilege motion against Khaira, objecting to what Cheema described as unparliamentary language, and sought Khaira's suspension for the remaining sittings; it said the House passed the motion while Congress members were absent.

Source: National Times Media

Cheema's allegations in the House

Allegations (Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema's, made in the House and reported by TV9 Punjabi — these are allegations, not established facts): Cheema targeted the new Punjab Congress chief Pargat Singh, alleging that he is a member of a 'chitta party' and of a party that spread drugs in Punjab, and alleging that Congress had misled Punjab after taking an oath at Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, to end drugs. TV9 Punjabi reported that Cheema also alleged in the House that Khaira and Pargat Singh were 'drug dealers'. Awaaz Punjab has not independently verified those allegations, and the reports did not carry a response from Khaira or Pargat Singh to the specific words used in the House.

Congress walkout and resignation demand

Congress legislators staged a walkout from the House in protest, Nazarana Times reported, and Speaker Sandhwan appealed to members to return to their seats and maintain the dignity of the House. Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said Congress would continue its protest until justice is delivered in the Jhota killing, alleged that the government was avoiding the Opposition's questions, and said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, though present in the House, was not ready to answer issues concerning the people — Bajwa's allegations, as reported. Bajwa raised the post-mortem and cremation issue in the Jhota case and demanded Mann's resignation, holding him politically responsible.

Source: Nazarana Times

Outside the Vidhan Sabha, Congress members led by Bajwa and Punjab Congress chief Pargat Singh staged a protest wearing black robes and presented a letter of condemnation, National Times Media reported, raising slogans against the Mann government over the drug trade and law and order.

Context: The confrontation followed a brief first day on Thursday, October 22, when the House paid tributes to Jhota and adjourned in about ten minutes, as Awaaz Punjab reported earlier. Jhota was shot dead on October 13 inside a chemist shop in Mansa district; the case has since been handed to the CBI, which has registered an FIR, as reported earlier. TV9 Punjabi's session preview said 11 reports were listed for presentation on Day 2 and a government resolution on alleged wrongful deletion of eligible voters' names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists was expected — those agenda items were listed as expected, not as decisions taken.