Selected Governor resorting to 'bullying tactics', says Punjab CM

Chandigarh, Oct 20 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Friday informed the assembly that the government would approach the Supreme Court to get the pending Bills cleared by the Governor.

Participating in a debate in the Vidhan Sabha, the Chief Minister said it was unfortunate that a selected Governor was resorting to “bullying tactics to prevent a democratically elected government from taking pro-people decisions.”

He said this highhandedness of the Governor will not stand in legal scrutiny and will be outrightly set aside by the apex court.

Mann said the Governor is taking the Punjabis for granted and will be taught a befitting lesson for his arrogant attitude.

The Chief Minister said till this matter is not resolved by the Supreme Court, the state will not present any Bill in the assembly.

He asked the Governor to stop threatening the Punjabis with his attitude.

He said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government would file a petition in the apex court on October 30 against the Governor’s letter in which he had termed the session illegal.

Cutting short the two-day assembly session on its first day by informing the House that Governor Banwarilal Purohit had not given assent to the three money Bills, Mann said: “It is strange the people of the state have elected them but the selected Governor is creating hindrances in the smooth functioning of the government.”

The Chief Minister said that the Governor is not allowing the state government to work for the wellbeing of the people.

He said that the government was not empowered to hold debates for welfare motives of people and pro-people Bills are stalled and development of the state was jeopardised.

Mann said that this dictatorial attitude of the Governor will not be tolerated and now justice will be sought from the apex court.

The Chief Minister said that the government had proposed to introduce three financial Bills for enhancing the revenue of Punjab to boost development of the state.

However, he said instead of giving consent to these Bills the Governor had “backstabbed Punjabis by squatting over them.”

Mann said that ironically the Governor is questioning the validity of the session whereas the state government is not allowed to take any decision for the wellbeing of people.

The Chief Minister said the Governor is questioning the rationale behind power subsidy to people and other welfare initiatives. He said the government has inherited debt from the previous governments as two persons had ruled the state from 1997-2022.

Mann said the government would remove the debt but like counterparts in Kerala, Bengal and Tamil Nadu the Punjab Governor should also not create obstacles in the working of the state government.

The Chief Minister said that the debt gets accumulated with wrong deeds of the people in power.

The Chief Minister also presented a letter written by the then Parliamentary Affairs Brahm Mahindra on November 23, 2019, to convene the ninth session of 15th Vidhan Sabha on same lines.

He said that this is not for the first time that such a session has been called but the Governor is creating undue hindrance in that.

Mann said this will not be tolerated and we will fight for getting the legitimate right of the state and its people.

A day earlier, Governor Purohit wrote to Mann saying he had received the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023, for approval.

But, he said, he was withholding his approval as the extended budget session was illegal.

Leader of Opposition Partap Bajwa raised the issue of the Governor calling the session illegal.

The Congress leader questioned why such a huge amount is being wasted on a session that had been called illegal by the Governor.

However, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan informed that the session was legal as he didn’t receive any communication from the Governor and could act only once he got a communication from him.

Later, Bajwa told the media with the Speaker abruptly adjourning the house sine die, the government acknowledged that the session was illegal.

Why did it call the House at all if it had to take the issue to the apex court?

“We didn’t boycott the session because we were expecting a fruitful discussion of the issues concerning the Punjab the most. The Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has yet to come clean about his government's stand on the SYL canal survey,” Bajwa added.