Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said that Governor Banwari Lal Purohit’s threat to recommend the imposition of President’s Rule in the State was an insult to Punjabis, and he is not going to bow down to such threats.
On Friday, the Governor had asked the Chief Minister to reply to his different queries before he decided to send a report to the President of India about the ‘failure of the constitutional mechanism’ in the State.
“...The Governor better knows that he wrote this letter under pressure, but this letter has humiliated the Punjabis who had elected their government with a thumping mandate. The ‘selected’ Governor does not have any moral right to threaten ‘elected’ representatives of people and make a malicious attempt to topple this democratically elected government,” said Mr. Mann, addressing a press conference here. He added that the Governor has demeaned the constitution of India and insulted its Chief architect Baba Sahib Dr. BR Ambedkar by such tantrums.
Mr. Mann said that according to the Constitution, people have the full right to elect the government of their choice, but the Governors are acting as a puppet of the union government to create unwanted hindrances to the functioning of non-BJP governments in States like Delhi, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. “I want to make it clear to the Governor that he has threatened to impose President’s Rule in Punjab under Article 356, but we are not afraid of it. Punjab has suffered the most from the misuse of Article 356 in the country,” he said.
The Chief Minister alleged that Punjab has endured the heavy toll of arbitrary actions and mistreatment by previous union governments, and once again, the current union government is attempting to undermine the State’s democratic values through the Governor.
“The Governor is conspiring to seize the power that is why he is issuing threats to oust the elected government,” said Mr. Mann, asking the Governor to try his luck in the upcoming assembly elections in the neighbouring State of Rajasthan rather than trying to capture the power through back door in Punjab.
The Chief Minister said that he has been consistently responding to the Governor’s correspondence, having already replied to nine out of a total of 16 letters. He said that responses to the remaining letters will be dispatched shortly. However, he expressed concern that the Governor is attempting to exert undue pressure on the elected government in an unconstitutional manner.
