Skip to main content

Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress speaks to the media about the Punjab Assembly session on July 10, 2025, not being extended. Picture: X/@Partap_Sbajwa

Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress speaks to the media about the Punjab Assembly session on July 10, 2025, not being extended. Picture: X/@Partap_Sbajwa

After the first day of the Special Session of the Punjab Assembly was adjourned following obituary references on Thursday (July 10, 2025), the principal Opposition party, the Congress, hit out at the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, accusing it of making a “mockery of democracy”.

The Punjab Assembly paid tributes to those who died in the Ahmedabad plane crash, among others. A two-minute silence was observed in memory of departed souls as a mark of respect during the obituary references.

Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said he had requested the Speaker for an extension of the session to allow discussion on two critical issues — the deteriorating law and order in the State and the land pooling scheme. “Yet, instead of addressing these urgent concerns, the AAP government chose to wrap up the day in just 11 minutes,” he told media persons, terming it a “mockery of democracy”.

Mr. Bajwa urged people across Punjab to demand answers from AAP about the wastage of public money.

Separately, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) Punjab unit president Sunil Jakhar criticised the AAP government for bringing out an expected Bill against sacrilege, calling it another episode of theatrics.

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Mr. Jakhar said that over 300 sacrilege incidents had occurred in Punjab since 2015 and questioned how many culprits were convicted under existing laws, which allowed for a two-year sentence. He pointed out that the Bill’s draft had neither been made public nor shared with legislators or religious institutions so far.

Expressing concern over Punjab’s deteriorating law and order situation, Mr. Jakhar said that under the AAP government, ordinary citizens felt unsafe, and fear prevailed across all sections of society.