Chandigarh: The Punjab Assembly, which met under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic here on Friday, paid tributes to the soldiers killed in Ladakh's Galwan valley, the COVID warriors and Olympian Balbir Singh Senior. The12th session of the 15th Punjab Assembly began at 11 am with strict protocols in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. AAP MLAs attended the Assembly session wearing PPE kits.
Thirty MLAs in the state, including four ministers, have tested positive for the coronavirus. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh led the Assembly in paying tributes to 28 eminent personalities, including freedom fighters who passed away since the last session of the House.
The Assembly paid its last respects to former MP Gurdas Singh Badal, Harminder Kaur (parents of state Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal), former MLA Chatin Singh Samao, former state minister Hari Singh Zira and Justice (retd) Satpal Bangar.
The members of the House also paid rich tributes to legendary field hockey player and Olympian Balbir Singh Senior and Hazoori Ragi Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa. The House also remembered freedom fighters Sucha Singh and Piara Singh, among others. It also paid homage to those who fell prey to the pandemic.
On the request of Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, the frontline COVID warriors, who sacrificed their lives fighting against the pandemic while going beyond the call of their duty, were also added to the list. A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of the departed souls during the obituary references.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) legislators were not present in the House. "Murder of democracy by Cong govt. Now police force posted outside SAD MLAs' houses to prevent them from attending 1 hr assembly session. Such kind of oppression seen for first even though SAD announced it will act responsibly. We appeal to Governor, Pb to intervene & restore order," Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia said in a tweet.
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Only five Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators -- Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Baljinder Kaur, Aman Arora, Jai Kishan Rori and Baldev Singh -- were allowed to attend the session, a party member said. Earlier, some AAP MLAs, including Harpal Singh Cheema, Aman Arora, Meet Hayer and Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, reached the Assembly wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) kits.
Cheema, Hayer, Manuke and Baldev Singh held a protest outside the Assembly, alleging that despite their negative coronavirus test reports, they were not being allowed to attend the session.
On Thursday, the chief minister and Speaker Rana K P Singh had appealed to all the legislators, who had come in contact with COVID-positive MLAs, to avoid attending the daylong Assembly session. In the House, one member per bench is allowed to sit in order to maintain social distancing. For media coverage, special arrangements have been made at the Punjab Bhawan, where live streaming of the session is being provided.
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With PTI inputs
