Punjab Assembly sees heated exchange between CM, Oppn leader over illegal colonies

Chandigarh, Sep 3 (PTI) The Punjab assembly on Tuesday witnessed heated exchanges between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa after a cabinet minister took on the Congress leader over the issue of illegal colonies in the state.

Mann even told Bajwa that he was not a "kid and inexperienced" but the chief minister of the state for three years now.

Meanwhile, the House unanimously passed the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which aims to do away with the practice of seeking no objection certificate (NOC) for the registration of plots up to 500 square yards in illegal colonies in the state.

Winding up the discussion on the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (Amendment) Bill on the second day of the assembly session, Mann said this amendment aims to ensure stringent control over the illegal colonies, besides giving relief to small plot holders.

This is a major reprieve for the common man as this amendment aims to overcome problems being faced by the public in registration of their plots and to put a check on the development of unauthorised colonies.

Participating in the discussion on the Bill, Cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal slammed the previous Congress and SAD-BJP governments for mushrooming of illegal colonies in the state, alleging that people were defrauded.

Citing an example of Amritsar, Dhaliwal said one can ask anybody, even a rickshaw puller, about the illegal colonies there and they will take the name of leaders who were behind it.

Targeting the LoP, Dhaliwal alleged that Congress leader Bajwa knows people who developed these illegal colonies in Amritsar.

Bajwa immediately rose up from his seat and objected to Dhaliwal's accusation.

Later, heated exchanges took place between Bajwa and AAP leaders including Mann, ministers Dhaliwal and Chetan Singh Jouramajra and they were even making angry gestures.

Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan repeatedly urged the members of the House to address the chair and let the debate continue.

In the meantime, the speaker's mic went mute for some time and the AAP leaders and Bajwa continued to engage in a verbal duel.

The Speaker even warned that the floor should not be crossed and asked minister Jouramajra to go back to his seat.

While winding up the discussion, Mann attacked the previous governments over the issue of illegal colonies and said they had regularized such colonies thrice despite the fact that every time it had a clause that it would not allow coming up of illegal colonies again.

Mann said being one of the most experienced chief ministers of the country, he had taken this decision to legalize plots of common man and not the illegal colonies.

"I am not a kid and I have been the chief minister for three years now," Mann said.

"Listen to me LoP saab (Bajwa), I am not inexperienced anymore and I am the experienced one. The names of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann figure among top five experienced CMs in the country," he said.

Taking a dig at Bajwa, Mann said he was listening to the LoP on Monday who said that he wrote 18 letters to him and 17 letters to the Speaker.

To this, Bajwa objected while Mann asked him, "let me speak, Sir." Mann said former chief minister Amarinder Singh had earlier said that he used to put Bajwa's letter written to him in a dustbin.

"How many letters you wrote to Captain (Amarinder Singh) and what he had said. He had said in public that he put Bajwa's letter in a dustbin," said Mann.

"He (Bajwa) wrote 18 letters to me and 17 to your (Speaker). Does he not have any other work," asked Mann. PTI