Chandigarh, May 25
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Monday launched a scathing attack on the AAP government and Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan for what he termed as the “systematic destruction of democratic safeguards and constitutional conventions” through the appointment of ruling party MLAs as heads of crucial House committees.
Bajwa expressed particular outrage over the appointment of an AAP MLA as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for the second consecutive year, calling it an unprecedented assault on the accountability framework of parliamentary democracy.
“The Public Accounts Committee exists to scrutinise the functioning and expenditure of the government. Across parliamentary democracies, it is an established convention that the PAC is headed by a member of the Opposition to ensure independent oversight over the ruling dispensation. However, the AAP government has shamelessly converted even accountability institutions into political tools,” Bajwa said.
The Senior Congress leader recalled that last year he had formally recommended the name of Congress MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra for the PAC chairmanship in his capacity as Leader of Opposition. “Ignoring democratic norms and legislative conventions, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan arbitrarily appointed AAP MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar as Chairman of the PAC. This year too, the same unconstitutional and partisan exercise has been repeated,” he added.
Bajwa said that the repeated denial of the PAC chairmanship to the Opposition has completely weakened the system of checks and balances envisaged under the Constitution of India.
“The Speaker’s chair is expected to remain neutral and protect the sanctity of democratic institutions. Unfortunately, the Speaker has chosen to function as an extension of the ruling party. The Mann government is clearly afraid of scrutiny and accountability,” Bajwa stated.
Bajwa further alleged that under the Bhagwant Mann government, every institutional safeguard in Punjab was being systematically undermined. “From the misuse of police machinery to intimidation of political opponents and now the capture of legislative oversight committees, Punjab is witnessing the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of the ruling party,” he said.
Bajwa said that the people of Punjab were promised transparent and clean governance by AAP, but instead they were witnessing the erosion of democratic norms and constitutional morality.
“The AAP government must understand that democracy cannot survive without a strong Opposition and independent oversight institutions. What is happening in Punjab today is nothing short of an attempt to silence accountability and dismantle democratic checks,” Bajwa added.
