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Standoff ends as governor summons Punjab assembly session on Sept 27
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit on Sunday decided to summon a one-day session of the state assembly on September 27, ending the stalemate with the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit on Sunday decided to summon a one-day session of the state assembly on September 27, ending the stalemate with the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
Purohit summoned the one-day session after the state government relented and informed him about the issues to be taken up during the session. “In exercise of the powers conferred upon me by virtue of Clause (1) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India, I, Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Punjab, hereby summon the sixteenth Vidhan Sabha of the state of Punjab to meet for its third session at 11am on Tuesday, the 27th September, 2022, in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Hall, Vidhan Bhawan, Chandigarh,” he said in brief order.
The governor’s go-ahead came after much back-and-forth with the AAP government over the agenda for the assembly session. The way for the approval was paved by the state government when it softened its position on Saturday and informed the Raj Bhawan that issues such as GST, stubble burning and power supply will be taken up in Tuesday’s session. The governor also reciprocated by giving the assent late in the night to end the stalemate between the governor and the AAP government.
Punjab assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, who first broke the news about the Raj Bhawan’s approval on Sunday morning, said the governor has acceded to the government’s request for holding the assembly session. “The Hon. Governor, Punjab, has very kindly acceded to our request and summoned the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to meet for its third session on 27.9.2022 at 11.00 AM at Chandigarh (sic), he said in a tweet.
Mann has convened a meeting of the state cabinet on Monday to approve the agenda for the session.
The governor and the AAP were at loggerheads over the session from the time the former cancelled the special session slated by the state government for September 22 for a confidence motion, citing the absence of specific rules. The ruling party cancelled the assembly session after it accused the BJP of attempts to topple its government in Punjab. The cancellation triggered a war of words between the opposition and the ruling party’s top brass, which raised questions over the governor’s action.
The state cabinet on Thursday decided to call a regular session on September 27 with a revised agenda but received a missive from the governor’s office a day later asking for details of the legislative business to be taken up. The CM called the speaker’s order “too much”, stating that in 75 years, no president or governor ever asked for a list of legislative business before calling the session.
On Saturday, Purohit wrote to Mann that his (CM’s) legal advisers were not briefing him properly. He also asked the CM to read Articles 167 and 168 of the Constitution. The state government, in its reply the same evening, informed the governor about the business to be taken up in the session, while conveying at the same time that “the demand for agenda and details while it being met herein without prejudice cannot be a condition precedent for calling/convening of a session nor delay in convening of a session, once decided by the council of ministers, the decision of the latter being binding on the honourable governor”.
