Just about 48 hours before the one-day Punjab Vidhan Sabha monsoon session, clouds of uncertainty continue to hover over with one-fifth of the legislators testing COVID-19 positive. As many 23 MLAs, including three Cabinet Ministers and Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker, are afflicted by the deadly virus, and could not be allowed to attend the session on Friday.
To make the matter worse for the principal opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the MLAs were part of their legislative wings’ meetings physically attended by all, including the ones tested positive.
As of now, three Cabinet Ministers — Revenue Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Industries Minister Sham Sunder Arora, Deputy Speaker Ajaib Singh Bhatti, and 19 MLAs including six from Akali Dal and four from AAP have been tested positive.
Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Congress’ Tarn Taran MLA Dharambir Agnihotri, and Phagwara MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal had earlier tested positive. Bajwa was tested negative on Wednesday after recovering.
