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Kejriwal says ‘democracy over’ after Punjab governor cancels special Assembly session
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said when ‘Operation Lotus’ started failing, a call came from the top to withdraw the nod that the governor gave for the special session two days ago.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and Delhi chief minister said Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit's move to withdraw his order summoning a special session of the Assembly amounted to an attack on the democracy.
He said when ‘Operation Lotus’ (a term used to refer to activities of the saffron camp to create hurdles for or topple non-BJP governments) started failing, a call came from the top to withdraw the nod that the governor gave for the special session two days ago.
“How can the governor refuse a session called by the cabinet? Then democracy is over. Two days ago, the governor gave permission for the session. When Operation Lotus started failing and the number was not completed, a call came from above asking to withdraw the permission,” the AAP boss wrote in Hindi on Twitter.
Earlier in the evening, Purohit withdrew his order summoning the special session of the House on Thursday for the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government for a confidence motion.
The Raj Bhavan cited absence of specific rules on summoning the Assembly for considering only a confidence motion.
According to reports, the decision came after leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma approached the governor and said there was no legal provision to convene a special session of the Assembly to just move a 'confidence motion' in favour of the state government.
Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said Mann, who should have resigned after the drunk-on-plane controversy, resorted to diversionary tactics.
“We welcome the decision as it saved crores of rupees of public exchequer on a meaningless AAP PR exercise,” Badal said.
The AAP government in Punjab had sought the special session to bring a confidence motion, days after it accused the BJP of trying to topple its government.
(With inputs from bureau and agencies)
