Stubble burning, power supply among issues to be taken up during Punjab Assembly session on Tuesday

Chandigarh: The one-day Punjab Assembly session will be held here on Tuesday during which issues related to stubble burning, goods and services tax and power supply will be taken up for discussion.

The day-long session is also likely to be a stormy one with opposition parties set to corner the state government on various issues, including alleged illegal sand mining, Sutlej Yamuna Link canal and law and order.

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Sunday gave his nod to convene the House on September 27 after days of squabble between the Raj Bhavan and the AAP government over holding an assembly session.

The governor's approval had come a day after the AAP government informed him about the issues to be taken up during the session.

The Bhagwant Mann-led government on Saturday had informed the governor that issues like stubble burning, goods and services tax and power supply would be discussed in the regular Assembly session on September 27.

The governor was also informed that in addition, business on different issues as per notices received from the members may also be taken up during the session according to relevant provisions of the 'rules of procedure and conduct of business in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.' It will be interesting to see whether the AAP government brings a confidence motion in the assembly.

Earlier, the governor had withdrawn the permission to hold a special session on September 22 when the AAP government wanted to bring only a confidence motion.

Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Monday dubbed the one-day session as a "joke" and said it should have been summoned to discuss burning issues like Sutlej Yamuna Link canal, sacrilege and crop damage due to untimely rains.

"Tomorrow's session of Vidhan Sabha is a joke as after spending 1 Cr of peoples' money, there's no question-hour as govt needs 15 days notice to answer them!It shd have been summoned appropriately to discuss burning issues like Syl, Beadbi, Crop damage etc instead of merely 2 issues," said the Bholath MLA in a tweet.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the session should be held for more days to discuss the state's important issues including "corruption, illegal sand mining, deteriorating" law and order and the excise policy.

There is no point in holding the session if the AAP wants to enact a "drama" by bringing the confidence motion, said Cheema.

The Aam Aadmi Party had recently claimed that at least 10 of its MLAs were approached by the BJP with an offer of Rs 25 crore each in a bid to topple the six-month-old government under its 'Operation Lotus.'