Punjab Assembly Budget session | Whose govt? Cong tells Gov not yours, Mann says: ‘yours as you called session’

While Bajwa’s mic was not switched on when he spoke, the Governor responded by saying he “agreed” to the Congress leader was saying. Bajwa’s remarks led to a heated exchange between the AAP and the Congress members. The Governor, however, intervened and said it was better to avoid controversy. “Whatever words were uttered were outside the House and not here… I will say government and not my government,” he added.

He then skipped the word “my” and began, “The government is going to successfully complete the first year in the coming days…”

This prompted Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to lodge his protest with the Chair. His mic too was not switched on, but he could be heard telling the Governor that this was his government and that he (Purohit) had called the session. Mann also urged Bajwa not to interrupt Purohit and said that he could debate on the issue when there is a discussion on the Governor’s address.

Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan got up at this time and went up to speak to Purohit, following which the Governor resumed his address but omitted the words “my government” in the prepared text.

At this point, Mann got up again and protested that the Governor must use the words “my government” in his speech. Purohit retorted by saying that this was not the first time that he had been a governor. “Ek minute meri baat suniye. This is not the first time I am Governor. I was Governor of Tamil Nadu, Assam and Meghalaya. In some states, there is ‘government’ mentioned and in some states ‘my government’ in the address. It is not that important,” Purohit said.

When Bajwa kept protesting, the Governor commented that to an extent the chief minister was also correct because the Cabinet has passed the decision on the address. The Governor then resumed his address and, referring to ‘my government’, gave out figures regarding anti-corruption measures taken by the AAP government in Punjab.

Here, the Governor digressed from his address and added a line of his own. “Here I would like to add something. When we are talking about transparency, Caesar’s wife should not only be above suspicion but should be seen to be so”.

There was a second interruption in the Governor’s speech when he referred to the measures taken by the state government on education in the state. Bajwa asked if the state government had replied to certain queries by him regarding the training of principals in Singapore.

The governor repeated the “Caesar’s wife” comment and asked the LoP to wait for the reply. “Now that I am saying ‘my government’, I am confident that whatever information I ask they will submit to me,” he said.

Purohit also asked Bajwa and Congress MLAs to argue in the debate after his address and not now. “I will request the LoP that you have a fortnight to discuss these things. Please let me complete the speech,” he said.

The Congress MLAs then got up and walked out of the house shouting that there was no point in listening to the speech since the state government considered him a “selected governor” even as the governor asked them to stay and listen to his address.