High drama unfolded at the Vidhan Sabha on Friday as Congress MLAs staged a protest against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the state’s law-and-order situation and the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota.Sustaining its momentum against the ruling party for the second consecutive day, the Congress released a ‘Laanat Patra (letter of shame)’ against the ruling party, alleging misgovernance. Party MLA Sukhpal Khaira was later suspended for the remainder of the ongoing session.Former Punjab BJP chief Jattvibeil Jakhar, meanwhile, again brought Manju and Simranjeet Kaur, the mother and sister of Abohar resident Ajay Kumar allegedly killed by liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda, to the Vidhan Sabha to press for justice.The House proceedings were marked by heated exchanges between Congress legislators and members of the ruling party, including Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema. Both sides accused each other of supporting the drug mafia during their respective tenure.Led by Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and Punjab Congress chief Pargat Singh, party MLAs wearing black scarves entered the Well of the House and raised slogans against the Bhagwant Mann-led government for over half an hour before staging a walkout. They carried the ‘Laanat Patra’ with them, accusing the AAP government of failing to curb drug trafficking and gangsterism. Before staging the walkout, some Congress MLAs threw paper missiles at the Speaker.Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan had asked members not to disrupt Question Hour, but Bajwa and other Congress MLAs remained adamant that the Chair accept their letter. Several AAP members countered with slogans before Sandhwan directed everyone to return to their seats.Sandhwan, meanwhile, also directed treasury bench MLAs to sit down and refrain from disrupting proceedings as Congress MLAs continued raising slogans in the Well of the House.Khaira was suspended for allegedly using unparliamentary language against the Chair, disregarding the Speaker’s authority and disrupting House proceedings. The resolution moved by Cheema was passed in the absence of Congress MLAs.Khaira objected to being singled out and refuted Cheema’s allegations against including claims linking him to the drug mafia. He pointed out that the Supreme Court had stayed proceedings in the Fazilka NDPS case in June 2024 and accused the AAP government of political vendetta.Bajwa said the Speaker did not take up his resolution seeking the rejection of electoral rolls prepared under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), restoration of pre-SIR rolls updated through physical door-to-door verification, a Supreme Court-ordered judicial audit of deletions on ERONet, and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar despite it being submitting well in advance.“Instead, the ruling party introduced its own official resolution seeking an independent inquiry into the SIR exercise and alleged voter deletions,” he added.Waris Punjab De MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali blamed the AAP and the BJP for failing to control the drug menace. After being denied an opportunity to speak, he entered the Well of the House to protest and raised the issue of synthetic drugs.