AAP exposes opposition MPs for not raising Punjab’s issues in parliament

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday took a swipe at opposition leaders and said that the non seriousness of BJP-SAD and Congress towards Punjab, stands exposed once again, as none of their MPs including SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal bothered to raise even one issue concerning Punjab in the monsoon session in Parliament.

Addressing a press conference here, AAP chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said that the performance of opposition MPs is in stark contrast to that of the AAP, whose MPs not only registered impressive attendance but also raised a number of issues that directly concern Punjabis. Kang pointed out that it is shocking that SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, who usually calls himself “Punjab Hiteshi” registered an attendance of 15 per cent during which he did did not raise any issue in the Lok Sabha.

Similarly Sangrur MP Simranjit Singh Mann, Congress MP Mohammad Sadiq and BJP’s Sunny Deol also sat silently because of their own vested political interests. Their low attendance in parliament shows their non-seriousness towards the welfare of Punjab and its people.

“Opposition leaders are conniving with the Central government to dilute the rights of Punjab and this is why, they do not raise the real issues of Punjabis. On the other hand, AAP MPs have forced the centre to rollback its decision of GST on inns near Golden Temple and centralization of Panjab University among other issues,” Kang said.

Likewise, AAP MPs including Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Balbir Singh Seechewal, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and others have strongly raised the matter of rising fuel prices in the country, depleting ground water level of Punjab, GST on inns near Golden Temple and anti-farmer policies of the government. Raghav Chadha also introduced two bills including Minimum Support Price Guarantee Bill and Constitution amendment bill 2022 in Parliament, said Kang. *MP Seechewal also raised a crucial issue related to mother tongue, which was accepted by Chairman Venkaiah Naidu. Later, the centre government assured to also provide documents in mother tongue to members of the House from the next session.*

Training his guns against the former Congress CM Charanjit Singh Channi, Kang said that due to impromptu decisions by him, now the future of many Punjabis is looking bleak. This was the reason that the Punjab and Haryana high court had quashed the selection of 1,158 assistant professors, which was started in October 2021 ahead of the assembly elections in the state.