Chandigarh, Aug 19 (IANS): Hitting out at the opposition for continuing to play dirty politics at a time when Punjab was going through a critical period amidst the Covid crisis, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said the one-day Assembly session convened by his government was a Constitutional requirement, as clearly mentioned in the official announcement two days back.

Contrary to the Akali allegation, the 'cruel joke' on the people was not by his government but by SAD President Sukhbir Badal, whose pathetic record of attendance in Assembly as MLA showed how little importance he gave to the House and its sessions, said the Chief Minister in a statement.

From March 2017 to May 2019, when he was MLA, Sukhbir attended the House for only 16 of the 40 days in session, he pointed out.

Captain Amarinder Singh expressed shock at the reaction of Sukhbir Badal and AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema, terming it not just ludicrous but a manifestation of the total lack of sensitivity and concern on the part of the two opposition parties in the state.

Both the parties seemed bent on playing with the sentiments of the people, whose only concern at present was to protect themselves from the coronavirus, which was peaking in the state and could play havoc with the state before stabilising, said the Chief Minister.

Responding to Sukhbir's remark that the single-day session was evidence of the government's acknowledgement that it has lost the mandate to govern, Captain Amarinder said his government had the mandate of the people and did not need the support of the handful of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLAs in the Assembly.

The only pressure on the government in calling the one-day session was Constitutional, the Chief Minister further said, urging Sukhbir to go and read up the Constitution, whose principles and rules the Akalis had stopped upholding a long time ago.

With 34,400 people in the state having tested positive so far and 898 deaths, including 1,704 reported positive and 35 dead on a single day on August 18, the situation was grim, the Chief Minister noted, adding that 366 people were on oxygen and three critically ill on ventilators.

The Chief Minister said neither the Shiromani Akali Dal nor the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had any meaningful issue to project among the people, and were thus resorting to shameful antics in the midst of the pandemic.