{"id":3600,"date":"2025-06-20T14:26:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T09:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/?p=3600"},"modified":"2025-06-20T13:50:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T08:50:41","slug":"chaos-erupts-in-punjab-assembly-over-watch-theft-and-budget-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/2025\/06\/20\/chaos-erupts-in-punjab-assembly-over-watch-theft-and-budget-clash","title":{"rendered":"Chaos Erupts in Punjab Assembly Over \u2018Watch Theft\u2019 and Budget Clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: A stormy Punjab Assembly session on Thursday was overshadowed by a bizarre allegation of watch theft, causing a major disruption just as the general debate on the 2025-26 provincial budget was about to begin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sitting, already delayed by over three hours, quickly descended into chaos when Treasury MPA Bilal Yamin accused opposition member Ejaz Shafi of stealing his watch during a previous session.<\/p>\n

Opposition benches erupted in protest, chanting slogans including \u201cNawaz Sharif is a thief!\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, government members mockingly waved their watches and shouted \u201cwatch thief\u201d at their counterparts.<\/p>\n

Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan struggled to maintain decorum as both sides intensified their verbal attacks.<\/p>\n

Amid the disorder, microphones were reportedly damaged and the session was suspended for nearly two hours.<\/p>\n

The speaker called senior members from both sides into his chamber in a bid to calm tensions.<\/p>\n

However, once proceedings resumed, the shouting matches resumed, leaving the House in a state of uproar once again.<\/p>\n

Watch Controversy Deepens Assembly Divide<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Addressing the House on a point of order, Bilal Yamin claimed his watch was taken from him on June 16 during a heated scuffle.<\/p>\n

He clarified that while the watch wasn\u2019t expensive, it carried emotional value as it belonged to his father.<\/p>\n

Ejaz Shafi strongly denied the accusation, calling it \u201cbaseless and politically motivated\u201d.<\/p>\n

He escalated the rhetoric by claiming corruption existed not only within the Sharif family but across the ruling party.<\/p>\n

He also demanded a personal search of the chief minister, alleging he had not been seen in the Assembly for a year.<\/p>\n

In response, the speaker announced the formation of a special committee to probe the theft allegation.<\/p>\n

Opposition Slams Budget as ‘Anti-People’<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\n

Despite the earlier commotion, the general budget debate eventually resumed.<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Malik Ahmed Khan Bhachar launched a scathing critique of the government\u2019s proposed fiscal plan.<\/p>\n

He called it \u201canti-people\u201d, arguing it prioritised political vendettas over public welfare.<\/p>\n

Bhachar condemned the government’s alleged mistreatment of PTI founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.<\/p>\n

He questioned the increase in the development budget from Rs842 billion to Rs1.24 trillion, claiming the government lacked the capacity to use the funds effectively.<\/p>\n

He also pointed to glaring misuse of funds in projects like the overpriced \u2018Rehri Programme\u2019 and the failed Rs150 million \u2018Bike Lane\u2019 project.<\/p>\n

The opposition leader expressed concern over continued outsourcing of schools and the rising number of out-of-school children.<\/p>\n

He also highlighted corruption in the Ramazan Nigehbaan Programme, naming 93 government employees allegedly involved.<\/p>\n

On the agriculture front, Bhachar painted a grim picture for farmers, citing huge losses in wheat and cotton yields.<\/p>\n

He accused the government of favouritism and claimed that over Rs20 billion in farmer support funds were being withheld.<\/p>\n

He also refuted official figures of 1.5 million farmers in Punjab, suggesting the actual number was far higher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: A stormy Punjab Assembly session on Thursday was overshadowed by a bizarre allegation of watch theft, causing a major disruption just as the general debate on the 2025-26 provincial budget was about to begin. The sitting, already delayed by over three hours, quickly descended into chaos when Treasury MPA Bilal Yamin accused opposition member …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1187,39,1803,1801,1804,1802],"class_list":["post-3600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","tag-accountability","tag-budget","tag-budgetclash","tag-luxury","tag-powerpolitics","tag-watchgate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3605,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions\/3605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}