Terming Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit's threat to recommend the imposition of President's rule in the state as an insult to 3.5 crore Punjabis, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann stated on Saturday that the Governor's threat has bruised the psyche of peaceful and hardworking Punjabis, who made unprecedented sacrifices for preserving the unity and integrity of the country besides making nation surplus food grain production. The Chief Minister categorically said that he is not going to bow down to such threats and will not compromise with the interests of the state and its people.
Speaking with the media fraternity here, the Chief Minister said that the Governor better knows that he wrote this letter under in whose pressure, but this letter has humiliated the Punjabis who had elected their own government more than an year ago with thumping mandate. He said that the ‘selected’ Governor does not have any moral right to threaten elected representatives of people and make malicious attempt to topple this democratically elected government. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the Governor has demean the constitution of India and insulted its Chief architect Baba Sahib Dr BR Ambedkar by such tantrums.
According to the Constitution, the Chief Minister said that people have the full right to elect the government of their choice, but the Governors are acting as puppet of union government to create unwanted hindrances the functioning of non-BJP governments in states like Delhi, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that he wants 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. He said that Punjab has suffered the most from the misuse of Article 356 in the country.
The Chief Minister expressed deep disappointment 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. He said that, in fact, the Governor is conspiring to seize the power that is why he is issuing threats to oust the elected government. Bhagwant Mann dared the Governor to try his luck in the upcoming assembly elections of Rajasthan rather than trying to capture the power through back door.
The Chief Minister said that he has been consistently responding to the Governor's correspondence, having already replied to nine out of total 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.
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Bhagwant Singh Mann said that his government has passed six bills in the Vidhan Sabha over the past year and a half, but the Governor has yet to endorse these bills, leaving them pending. Questioning the Governor's silence on unresolved issues, the Chief Minister pointed out that the Union Government has withheld crores of rupees of Rural Development Fund (RDF) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) allocations, yet the Governor has remained silent on these significant matters. He further noted that the Union Government has not paid any attention to the concerns of Punjab's farmers and it is further alarming that the Governor has not written a single letter to the central government addressing the real issues of Punjab.
Regarding a meeting concerning Panjab University, the Chief Minister highlighted that the Punjab Governor consistently favored Haryana, indicating a lack of loyalty to Punjabis. In the same way, as the administrator of the Chandigarh, the Governor removed the SSP of the Punjab cadre posted in Chandigarh overnight and Punjab was deprived of this post for six months. He also mentioned that the Governor of neighbouring state Haryana remained silent about the significant loss of life and property caused by communal violence in Nuh district.
Bhagwant Singh Mann said that even in the highly sensitive conditions of Manipur, the Governor of state hardly paid any attention. But, on the other hand, he said that the Governor of Punjab is repeatedly peeping his nose in day to day affairs of state government and is now shamelessly threatening to topple the government, which is continuously making efforts to safeguarding the interests of the people
Bhagwant Singh Mann lamented, "It is astonishing that while the state government is working round the clock on the agenda of providing free electricity, quality education, state-of-the-art healthcare services and employment to the youth, the Governor of that state is trying to destabilize it.’’
Flagging the issue of compensating flood-affected people, the Chief Minister revealed that his government has repeatedly urged the union government to relax the norms for releasing Rs.9,660 crore from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) to provide much-needed relief to the people of the state. Buy, regrettably, the Union Government has not yet responded positively. He said that the Governor should also talk to the Union Government on this pressing matter.