Punjab Assembly Budget Session

March 8, 2026

Abhishek Vij

The Punjab Assembly’s Budget Session began on Friday, March 6th. This session will continue until March 16. After the recess on March 7th, on Sunday, March 8th, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s Bhagwant Singh Mann government will present the final budget of its current term. Almost all segments of Punjab’s population are hopeful that something will be announced for them in this election year.

Even before the session began, a public welfare announcement came: the Punjab government has further reduced electricity rates in the state.Punjab Energy Minister Sanjeev Arora, while giving this information during a press conference, stated that electricity consumers across Punjab will benefit from the reduction in electricity rates starting April 1st, 2026.

Domestic rates have been reduced by Rs 1.5 per unit, while commercial consumers have received a reduction of 79 paise per unit.
Electricity rates for electric vehicle charging stations have been reduced to five rupees per unit. It is noteworthy that this is the lowest rate in the country. The first day of the Budget Session was chaotic. Congress members began protesting as soon as the Governor’s address began. When attempts were made to stop them, they resorted to sloganeering.

Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held a protest with bands and musical instruments to protest Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa’s recent remarks about Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO. Opposition leader Pratap Singh Bajwa objected to this and said, “If you want to play bands, do it outside the Chief Minister’s house.” The Congress has decided to file a complaint with the Governor and the Chandigarh Police in this regard. On the first day, after the Governor’s address and his motion of thanks, the House was initially adjourned until 2 pm. When the House reassembled at 2 pm, tributes were paid to the departed souls.

The session was then adjourned. The budget is scheduled to be presented on Sunday, March 8th, Women’s Day, and it is expected that the announcement of a monthly grant of Rs 1,000 to women will be made on that day. Even before the budget session began, the AAP government has already announced its successes. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema stated that Punjab has collected more revenue than expected and has also reduced the debt burden.

On the first day of the session, the situation became so chaotic that Congress workers, protesting against the state government, marched towards the Assembly outside the Congress office in Sector 15 and, when stopped by the police, attempted to break through the barricades. Police dispersed the crowd with water cannons and immediately detained select leaders, including Raja Warring. In short, every Assembly session begins with the expectation that serious discussions on the issues will take place in the House. The idea that the ruling party and the opposition would offer constructive suggestions, there would be no uproar, and that citizens would find a path to improvement through discussions between party and opposition leaders was lost in the chaos on the first day of the budget session.

It is hoped that the remaining time of the budget session will be spent discussing the budget without any uproar. The AAP government is claiming that during its tenure, numerous steps have been taken to address public problems. Even in the final year of its term, pending public demands will be met so that when the assembly elections are held next year, the people of the state will vote for the government’s victory based on its work and give it the opportunity to serve the state again.