After having thrown down the gauntlet to the Opposition for a debate on issues of Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Thursday set the rules of the game saying that the parties that ruled the state in the past will have to answer for their ‘misdeeds’, sparking a sharp reaction from BJP’s Sunil Jakhar who it was ‘amusing’ to see the AAP leader trying to ‘redraft the debate’ as seeking answers from Opposition parties, rather than showing any willingness to provide answers.
‘The name of the debate to be held at Ludhiana on November 1 at 12 noon will be ‘Main Punjab Bolda Haan’. The main political parties of Punjab which have been in power will present their side. Each party will get 30 minutes,’ Mann said on X.
Mann also said that the debate will be moderated by Prof Nirmal Jaura, the director of students welfare at Punjab Agricultural University PAU. The debate will be held at an auditorium of the PAU.
Mann had earlier dared state BJP chief Jakhar, state Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, and Shiriomani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal for an open debate on issues concerning the state. He had thrown the challenge in response to opposition parties’ criticism of the Aam Aadmi Party government over the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue.
In a statement on Thursday, Mann said the AAP would roll out the red carpet for the people of the state who want to be part of the debate, which will be centred around Punjab’s ‘loot’ in the past by the political parties. He that all the parties that have remained in power in the state will present their case during the debate for which they will each get a time of 30 minutes.
The issues to be debated include nepotism, favouritism, toll plazas, youth, agriculture, trade-shopkeepers, the 2015 sacrilege case sacrilege, and river water-sharing among others.
Daring leaders of other political parties to participate in an open debate before Punjabis and the media, the chief minister said they have deceived Punjab on these issues, and are answerable to the people.
Mann said the debate will give the people a clear picture on ‘how they were betrayed’ while these leaders ‘secured their own interests’ by committing ‘unpardonable sins’.
Jakhar, meanwhile, questioned if Jaura can be unbiased in conducting the debate given that he is a government employee.
Mann had earlier dared state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, state Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, and Shiriomani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal for an open debate on issues concerning the state. He had thrown the challenge in response to opposition parties’ criticism of the Aam Aadmi Party government over the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue.
In a statement on Thursday, Mann said the debate will be centred around Punjab’s ‘loot’ in the past by the political parties. He that all the parties that have remained in power in the state will present their case during the debate for which they will each get a time of 30 minutes.
‘How can you expect a government employee to remain steadfastly neutral and impartial during a debate involving the state’s chief minister,’ Jakhar asked.
He said there was no question over Jaura’s capabilities as a writer, teacher and artiste, instead Mann’s ‘seriousness’ about Punjab’s ‘pressing issues’ is under cloud. ‘Mann ji has forgotten that people of Punjab have chosen him to run the state but the CM time and again tries to hide behind the stage,’ said Jakhar.
Jakhar had earlier suggested that a three-member panel be formed to moderate the debate. He had proposed the names of former MP Dharamvira Gandhi, former MLA H S Phoolka and Kanwar Sandhu. He reiterated that he would neither shy away from the debate nor would let the chief minister ‘run away’. ‘I have accepted this challenge as someone needs to call out the CM’s bluff. People need answers and the CM must come prepared for the same,’ Jakhar added.
Inviting people to suggest issues that can be raised during the debate, Jakhar said they can send them to 7508560065 on WhatsApp. The Punjab BJP chief said Punjab’s water, education, health and law and order are prime concerns of every thoughtful Punjabi that needs redressal.
To the CM’s tweet, Jakhar said, ‘It is amusing’to see CM trying to redraft the debate as seeking answers from opposition parties, rather than showing any willingness to provide answers’.
Shiromani Akali Dal has termed it a ‘sham debate’, and said the party would not be part of ‘this anti-Punjab exercise’.
