Amarinder’s failure to attend any of the earlier sessions except for one day in March last when he took oath as member of the new House has been the subject matter of both intra-party and inter-party talk. Talking to The Indian Express on phone, Capt Amarinder confirmed his decision to attend the forthcoming session. “I had to get myself medically examined when the previous sessions were held. Unfortunately, this was construed as a sign of weakness by the government. But I will certainly attend the coming session and play my part in exposing the present government, which is doing nothing for the people of Punjab,” he said.

During the last year’s Budget session, the former chief minister had gone abroad for a medical check-up. This had given a stick to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his colleagues, including those in the BJP, to beat Amarinder with. Badal had even gone to the extent of claiming that his predecessor’s visit abroad while the Assembly session only testified to his guilt. Amarinder was absent from the proceedings of the Vidhan Sabha throughout the winter session too in December last. It was in this session that some SAD MLAs raked up a controversy of Amarinder’s alleged closeness to a Pakistani woman journalist. Except for a token opposition by some Congress MLAs to the mud-slinging by the Akali MLAs, most frontline Congress leaders chose to ignore the issue.

In his absence, the opposition Congress could only put up a token resistance to the many “anti-people” policies of the present ruling combine. On a number of occasions, many MLAs and former ministers, particularly the younger lot, requested Amarinder to play a more prominent role, especially in countering the alleged vendetta politics unleashed by the ruling combine.