The Congress legislators once again staged a walkout from the Punjab Assembly on Monday over unmet pre-poll promises by ruling AAP and the “deteriorating” law and order in the state.The Budget session of the Assembly had got off to a stormy start on March 6 when Congress MLAs led by Leader of the Opposition Partap Bajwa exited the House during the Governor’s Address.Reacting to it, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said it showed the Opposition’s “frustration” over the monthly stipend provided by his government to women.The CM claimed that his government had now met all major pre-poll promises of providing free electricity, setting up Aam Aadmi Clinics, monthly stipend to women, job creation and the delivering of services on the doorstep.Earlier, slamming the government, Bajwa said the AAP government should pay each eligible woman Rs 48,000 as “arrears” for the past four years after it failed to provide them with the financial help immediately after assuming power in 2022, as promised.“The government is fooling people. People are so unsafe that they are running to procure gun licences (due to safety concerns). You had promised to open 16 medical colleges in your first Budget but not a single medical college came up,” he alleged.Bajwa also accused AAP MLAs of being “involved in drug trade and illegal sand mining”. He alleged that drugs were easily available as if these were being delivered by online delivery portals.Finance Minister Harpal Cheema defended his government’s performance, saying it provided over 63,000 jobs to the youth. “There has been a 20,000 increase in ITI seats,” he said.He said as part of the state wide anti-drug drive Yudh Nashian Virudh, they had registered 36,178 FIRs and arrested 47,902 people.Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Jangi Lal Mahajan pointed out loopholes in the anti-drug drive. He said common people were being “harassed” while the influential were “roaming freely”.Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Manpreet Ayali slammed the state government over the “pending action” against those involved in 2015 sacrilege incidents.He also accused the government of not paying any heed to the demand of Gurjit Singh Khalsa, who is protesting in Patiala’s Samana atop a water tank for months now for the release of the Bandi Sikhs lodged in the country’s jails despite completing their sentences long ago.Mann said there was a time when no one even read election manifestos because traditional parties released the document as a mere formality.“AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal made a historic move by including quality health and education in our manifesto. Other parties have now been forced to include these core sectors in their manifestos,” he claimed.Mann said medical colleges would be set up in Lehra Gaga, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala. He said on March 20, a Tata Steel manufacturing plant worth Rs 3,200 crore would be inaugurated in Ludhiana, generating jobs for 4,000 youth.Later in the day, when a debate over the Budget started, heated arguments were witnessed between the treasury benches and the opposition benches.Jalandhar Cantt MLA Pargat Singh questioned the corruption narrative of AAP while seeking a reply on the status of corruption cases against AAP MLAs Vijay Singla, Amit Rattan and Fauja Singh Sarari. Sarari objected to it, blaming the Congress MLA for wrongly taking up the matter.Probe encounters: PargatOn the monthly stipend to women, Pargat said the announcement was a “political drama” to mislead women voters. “The government will spend four months on verification and give two instalments before elections,” he claimed.He urged the government not to turn Punjab into a police state. He said the stories behind the 35 encounters that have taken place in the past three months appear very similar. He demanded that all encounter cases be investigated by a committee headed by a sitting judge.Kulwant takes on own govtDuring the question hour, AAP MLA Kulwant Singh took on his own government for failing to act against Mohali builders who have encroached upon public land by opening gates of convenience shops towards main roads.He said due to the “involvement of GMADA officials”, the government had failed to act against violators.