CHANDIGARH: Reacting to Captain Amarinder Singh government's decision to not allow media coverage during the Budget Session 2021, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly Harpal Singh Cheema said that the decision was condemnable and a dictatorial decision of the Captain government. Cheema said that Captain Amarinder should be aware that there is democratic governance and the media is the fourth pillar of democracy.
"Captain needs to realise that he is not running a monarchy anymore. In a democratic system, the media needs to be allowed to cover the Budget Session. I demand that media be allowed in the house, " said Cheema. He said that the media has every right to cover the budget session and show the public the truth. "Media coverage makes things transparent. It is absolutely wrong to stop the media from doing coverage and it is a symbol of a dictatorial attitude, " he added.
Lashing out at Captain Amarinder Singh, Cheema further said that taking such a decision by a government elected by the people was highly condemnable and unfortunate. He said that the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government was trying to suppress the voice of the people by accumulating monopoly on most of the national newspapers and TV channels; in the same way, Captain Amarinder also wants to make media in Punjab. He said that the media coverage must be held during the budget session.