Cabinet Ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, Aman Arora and Harbhajan Singh ETO on Friday slammed the Congress for boycotting the Governor’s Address. They alleged that the Opposition’s disruptive behaviour and sloganeering in the House were “desperate attempts to divert public attention from the state’s “growth milestones”.Cheema said the Congress legacy in Punjab was defined by the growth of liquor, sand, and transport mafias rather than the state’s treasury or its people. He said the Congress, which had already been reduced to zero in states like Delhi and Bihar, was headed for a similar wipeout in the Punjab Assembly elections.Arora, who is also the Punjab AAP president, said the Congress behaviour was an “insult to the House and to the 75-year-old parliamentary traditions of the state”. “For the past 75 years, the Governor’s Address has been a solemn occasion to present the state’s report card and future roadmap to the people,” he added. Harbhajan Singh ETO alleged the Congress till date treated Dalits, poor and labourers “merely a vote bank”.AAP leaders bring band playersA high drama was witnessed outside the Punjab Assembly as AAP MLAs led by Minister Harbhajan ETO brought processional brass band players to protest against Leader of the Opposition Partap Bajwa for his alleged casteist remarks against the minister. The AAP leaders raised slogans against him.Reacting to it, Bajwa said he had written to the Governor seeking an inquiry for allowing unauthorised people entry to the Assembly complex. “Bringing band players was disturbing and raised serious concerns about the breach of security on the Assembly premises,” he said.“I have written to the Governor requesting that an inquiry be ordered so that responsibility could be fixed,” he added.In a controversial video statement, Bajwa was allegedly heard calling the minister a “band player”, stoking a row with the state SC panel issuing him summons for appearance.Bajwa said since it was the last Budget session of the AAP government, the procession by AAP signalled that they were “celebrating their last days in power”.Cabinet clears estimatesThe Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann cleared the presentation of supplementary demands for grants for the year 2025-26 and Budget estimates for 2026-27, along with CAG audit reports for 2024-25. The decision was taken by the Council of Ministers at a meeting held at the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat.The Chief Minister’s Office said the Cabinet gave the go-ahead to supplementary demands for grants for 2025-26. Likewise, it also cleared the Budget estimates for 2026-27 to be presented by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on March 8.The Cabinet also approved the tabling of audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the Finance and Appropriation Accounts of the Government of Punjab for 2024-25 in the Vidhan Sabha.