CHANDIGARH: Days after the Aam Aadmi Party accused the BJP of trying to topple its government in Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today said a special session of the state assembly would be convened on September 22 to move the confidence motion.
The ruling party had recently claimed that at least 10 of its MLAs were approached by the BJP with an offer of Rs 25 crore each to topple the six-month-old government.
“The voters of Punjab ensured a thumping majority to our party, but some undemocratic forces are trying to woo our MLAs to topple the government. We have decided to bring a confidence motion to prove that we still enjoy the trust of the people,” the CM said. With 92 MLAs, AAP has an overwhelming majority in the 117-member Punjab Assembly. Congress has 18, Akali Dal three, BJP two and BSP one while one is independent.
Mann claimed that the AAP MLAs are committed to the party’s ideology and efforts to destabilize the AAP government in Punjab after Delhi have failed. “The anti-Punjab forces should stop dreaming of toppling a government that won with a thumping majority,” he said.
CM considering restoring old pension scheme
CM Bhagwant Mann has said that his government is contemplating to restore the old pension scheme (OPS) for government employees. Discontinued in 2004, restoration of OPS is a long pending demand of the state employees.
