Chandigarh-Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party President Kewal Singh Dhillon on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party government for introducing and passing nearly nine Bills on a single day during the last day of the Assembly session, calling it a gross insult to the legislative system and democracy.
Dhillon said passing Bills that could have far‑reaching consequences for the lives of the people without giving legislators adequate time to read, understand, scrutinise and deliberate upon them was not law‑making but a display of the arrogance of the majority.
He said the job of the Assembly was not to stamp every decision brought by the government unthinkingly, but to hold detailed discussions, scrutiny and deliberations on every Bill in the public interest.
Dhillon questioned how legislators could read, understand and discuss nine Bills introduced and passed immediately on the same day with the people of their constituencies.
The BJP state chief said the Punjab Legislative Assembly was the voice of the people and not an office meant to rubber‑stamp decisions taken by a leadership sitting in Delhi. He alleged that under the AAP government, decisions were taken in Delhi while their implementation was carried out in Punjab.
He said legislators had every right to be fully informed about and deliberate upon laws concerning their own state, rather than being forced to give consent without reading them.
Referring to the Jagat Jyot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Amendment Act, Dhillon said this was not the first time the AAP government had attempted to rush through the framing of an important law. He recalled that in the case of this law, government ministers and legislators had later admitted at the Akal Takht that they had given their consent without fully reading and understanding the legislation.
He said instead of learning from that mistake, the AAP government had turned the same wrong practice into its method of functioning.
Dhillon said bringing a series of Bills on the last day of the Assembly session and passing them without adequate discussion not only undermined the rights of the Opposition, but also weakened the right of every citizen of Punjab to know and understand the laws being enacted.
--IANS
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