Constitutional overreach’ defined Purohit-Mann tussle
The 84-year-old Maharashtra politician, Banwarilal Purohit, who came to Punjab as governor in September 2021 after gubernatorial stints in Tamil Nadu, Assam and Meghalaya, was engaged in a confrontation with the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for most part of his nearly three-year-long tenure in the border state
Chandigarh: With President Droupadi Murmu accepting his resignation on Saturday night, curtains have come down on Banwarilal Purohit’s eventful tenure as the governor of Punjab.
Purohit had submitted his resignation from the post of Punjab governor and administrator of Union Territory of Chandigarh on February 3, citing “personal reasons”, but the announcement of acceptance of his resignation came a day after he told reporters that he had resigned thinking that “may be the CM (Bhagwant Mann) does not want me (to continue).”
Assam governor Gulab Chand Kataria, a BJP veteran from neighbouring Rajasthan, has been moved to Punjab in his place.
The 84-year-old Maharashtra politician, who came to Punjab as governor in September 2021 after gubernatorial stints in Tamil Nadu, Assam and Meghalaya, was engaged in a confrontation with the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for most part of his nearly three-year-long tenure in the border state. The term was marked by bitter acrimony, with the governor questioning the state government’s decision on grounds of deviation from procedures and established practices and the latter dragging him to the Supreme Court twice following an impasse over convening the budget session and for withholding assent to bills.
The top court, in its November 10 judgment that was uploaded on its website on November 23 last year, held that governors lacked the constitutional powers to question the validity of an assembly session. The top court reproached Purohit for keeping four bills pending. It said that “in a parliamentary form of democracy, real power vests in the elected representatives”, while the governor, as an appointee of the President, is just a “titular head” of the state.
{{/usCountry}}The top court, in its November 10 judgment that was uploaded on its website on November 23 last year, held that governors lacked the constitutional powers to question the validity of an assembly session. The top court reproached Purohit for keeping four bills pending. It said that “in a parliamentary form of democracy, real power vests in the elected representatives”, while the governor, as an appointee of the President, is just a “titular head” of the state.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, during a hearing on November 10, the court slammed the Punjab governor for “playing with fire” and “putting parliamentary form of government in peril” by withholding assent to four bills passed by the assembly on the erroneous and mistaken ground that the June 19-20 session, in which the bills were passed, was invalid.
At the same time, the court did not spare the state government either, saying its actions of keeping the assembly in suspended animation amounted to defeating the Constitution.
AAP leaders, including cabinet ministers, repeatedly accused Purohit of acting as “agent” of the BJP-led central government, whereas the governor insisted that he was only discharging his constitutional duty.
The latest flashpoint in the Purohit-Mann tussle came after President Droupadi Murmu refused to clear a Punjab government bill seeking to replace the governor with the chief minister as the chancellor of state-run universities and the governor went on another tour of border districts — his seventh in last two years — to review the security situation. Mann, while speaking to reporters in Jalandhar on Thursday, raised questions over Purohit’s visits to border areas and his powers to appoint vice-chancellors of universities from a panel of names recommended by the state government. “He (governor) should inaugurate seminars and participate in university events and not hold tours and roadshows in border areas. The governor must refrain from taking “panga” (raking up conflicts) with the state government,” the CM said, making it a confrontation between “elected versus selected”.
Purohit hit back on Friday by declaring that he will continue to visit border districts even if the chief minister feels bad about them. “There is no need for the CM to be afraid of me as I am not in politics or campaigning to seek votes,” he riposted, taking credit at the same time for improved coordination between the state police and central security agencies, setting up village development committees to help seize drugs and drones and instituting cash awards from his discretionary grants to make villages drug-free.
The two top constitutional functionaries remained at odds for most of the last two years, shooting off letters and sniping at each other over issues such as convening of the assembly sessions, withholding of bills, appointments of vice-chancellors, adherence to legal procedures, action against a minister, selection of school principals for training abroad, constitutional propriety, etc.
Row over special assembly session
The first signs of their strained relationship had surfaced in September 2022 — barely six months after the AAP came to power in Punjab — over a special session of the state assembly called by the AAP government for a trust vote. The state government convened the special session on September 22 after the AAP made an allegation that the BJP tried to poach at least 10 party MLAs. The governor first gave the consent but then withdrew the order. The AAP hit out at Purohit and decided to hold a regular session, which was approved by the governor but not before he and Mann took potshots at each other over the details of legislative business to be taken up in the House.
Rift over border visits
The next flashpoint was the governor’s trip to six border districts and his remarks voicing concern over rampant illegal mining and drug menace and their relations nosedived thereafter, leading to frequent run-ins. In October 2022, when Mann skipped a civic reception held in honour of President Droupadi Murmu at the Punjab Raj Bhawan, the governor took a dig at him, saying that constitutional obligations have to be met. Both sides blamed each other for the rift. Their tussle reached its crescendo when the governor in August last year told the chief minister to respond to his letter or face the prospect of President’s rule being imposed in the state.
