High drama was witnessed during the Zero Hour in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday as Congress MLAs, along with two Akali MLAs — Ganieve Kaur and Manpreet Ayali — unitedly took on the ruling party for failing to bring amendments to Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026. The opposition also alleged complicity of AAP functionaries in cases being probed by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).Raising slogans of “Panth Dokhi”, opposition MLAs walked into the Well of the House. To counter the opposition, treasury bench MLAs began raising slogans against the Congress and Akali Dal, branding them “Panth Dokhi”. With the treasury benches cornered on the emotive issue, the Speaker abruptly ended Zero Hour within 14 minutes, though it is meant to run for one hour.The arguments between the opposition and treasury benches began after Akali MLA Ganieve Kaur alleged that the ruling party had challenged the authority of the Akal Takht by backtracking on the commitment to make changes to anti-sacrilege law.SAD’s Manpreet Ayali and Ganieve Kaur while coming out of the Vidhan Sabha session in Chandigarh on Wednesday. Tribune photo: VickyReferring to the Speaker’s statement that the gathering in the House was akin to a “Sangat gathering”, she said it was not a Sangat but a gathering of MLAs and ministers. This prompted the treasury benches to refer to the Badals as “Panth Dokhi”.Seeing tempers running high, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings for eight minutes before resuming the session for a Call Attention Notice.Earlier, Congress MLAs stormed the Well of the House, objecting to the alleged misbehaviour by the Vidhan Sabha security staff. They alleged that they were not allowed to bring protest banners into the House even as the ruling party MLAs were permitted to protest against the BJP.They also demanded a reply from the Speaker on the adjournment motion moved by the Congress. After the Speaker rejected the adjournment motion, Congress MLAs continued to protest during the Question Hour.CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa also raised the issue of ED raids in the case of PSIEC industrial plots’ allotment.


