The Punjab Assembly on Monday witnessed chaotic scenes during the discussion on the state budget when Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann engaged in a heated argument with the Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa following the former's request to the Governor to "lock" the opposition in the assembly.
Before the beginning of the discussion on the budget, Chief Minister Mann handed over an envelope to the governor, stating that he had brought a gift for him. The envelope contained a lock and a key.
The Chief Minister, then, asked the governor to lock the opposition inside the assembly, so that they could not "run away" during the discussion, which later triggered a heated argument between LoP Bajwa and the Chief Minister.
An agitated chief minister Mann asked Bajwa to tell the central leadership of the Congress not to "bother" giving seats to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
"Who does Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi sit with? With me. Have you ever sat with them? On the one hand, you are making agreements (on seat sharing) with us. Go and tell them (Sonia and Rahul Gandhi) not to give Kurukshetra, Delhi and Gujarat (Lok Sabha) seats for us," Mr Mann said.
Later, the house was adjourned for 15 minutes.
LoP Partap Singh Bajwa, while speaking to the reporters, said, "The Chief Minister said that the Congress does not know how to listen hence the doors of the Assembly should be locked from inside... Are we labourers? We have not seen such a weak Speaker... The CM used inappropriate words for everyone.
"When the heated argument was going on, the Chief Minister asked me if I would contest against him in the elections. I told him that from wherever he will contest from Punjab, I will stand against him. I have accepted his challenge openly," he added.
The AAP and the Congress, allies in the INDIA bloc, have decided to go for a 'friendly fight' in Punjab, given the latter is the opposition in the state.
Earlier, the two parties closed their seat-sharing deal in Delhi, Haryana, Goa, Chandigarh and Gujarat.
As part of the agreement reached between the ruling party in Delhi and the grand old party, Congress will contest 3 of the 7 Lok Sabha seats in the national capital while the AAP will field candidates in the remaining 4 constituencies.
In neighbouring Gujarat, the Congress will contest 24 of 26 Lok Sabha seats, leaving the remaining 2--Bharuch and Bhavnagar-- for the AAP.
In Haryana, the Congress will contest 8 of the 9 Lok Sabha seats while the AAP will contest the lone seat--Kurukshetra.
The two parties also reached a consensus on the grand old party contesting the prized Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat.
As part of the seat-sharing deal, the Congress will contest both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa.
The Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held in April-May this year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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