Gulab Chand Kataria to take oath as new Punjab Governor on July 31
Will work together, says CM Bhagwant Mann after Kataria appointment
5 min read
Gulab Chand Kataria as been appointed as the new Punjab Governor. (Express file photo by Rohit Jain Paras)Hours after President Droupadi Murmu accepted resignation of Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and appointed Gulab Chand Kataria as the new Governor, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that he would welcome the newly appointed governor and was looking forward to work together for Punjab.
Addressing the media after flagging off 58 new high-tech ambulances from outside his official residence, Mann said that he had called up Kataria in the morning and welcomed him to the state. “I called him in the morning and told him that we are Punjabis and hospitable by nature. He told me that he will take oath on July 31. There are so many issues in which the Governor and the government has to work together. For instance, for appointing vice-chancellors of universities, the Governor and government have to be on the same page. If we work on cross-roads then it seems that parallel government is being run,” he said.
Responding to Purohit’s statement on Friday that he “may have resigned as the CM did not want him to stay,” Mann said, “How can I force a Governor to resign? I have accorded him all respect. He is a buzurg (an elderly man) and I always touched his feet. But when there is a conflict of interest then what can I do? For instance, when I went on two days visit to Jalandhar, as promised by me to the residents of Doaba and Majha, Chief Secretary and DGP were not there. They were with him because he was visiting the border districts. We sought an exemption for them from the Governor, but he insisted that he will need them. How could he run parallel meetings? Before that he had refused to allow budget session. We went to the Supreme Court, even then he decided not to acknowledge our session. President has now changed him,” he said, adding that the government will now prorogue the Budget session of 2024-25. “We had not got it prorogued from him (Purohit). Now, when the new Governor will take over, we will prorogue the session. We will send the file to the Raj Bhawan today.”
Responding to a question on whether his wife, Dr Gurpreet Kaur, will be given a ticket in one of the four Assembly bypolls, the CM said that he had no plans to launch her politically. “She campaigned. So did all volunteers of the party. If someone is campaigning that does not mean we are launching him politically. Arvind Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal also campaigns. She has been campaigning in Haryana now. That does not mean she will contest. Mrs Mann campaigned in the election as a family. We left our three-month-old daughter with her grandmothers.”
He added that Rs 1,000 crore was pending towards National Health Mission Programme as the Centre was sitting over it stating that the state government had not branded the Aam Aadmi Clinics as per the Centre’s design. “We have told them that we will follow it. Howver, the issue is that they did not want to pay us anything. Kerala and West Bengal moved the Supreme Court on non payment of dues. We will also follow suit,” he said.
Mann added that he will participate in INDIA bloc protest at Jantar Mantra on July 30 to protest against treatment being meted to Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar jail. “All CMs of INDIA bloc will participate in the protest. They do not give him medicine. They say Kejriwal is doing it deliberately. Who does this to risk one’s life?” he asked.
When asked about a Cabinet berth for recently elected Jalandhar West MLA Mohinder Bhagat, the CM said, “We will do it and we will call you in this conference hall and tell you.”
Mann added that he was planning to reward the selfless service of the people by conferring them with Punjab Ratna on the lines of Bharat Ratna. He said that the government might start it from Independence Day.
On the issue of tableaux from Punjab not allowed by Centre for the Independence Day parade last year, he said that the central government has now asked him to send a tabluex on any theme. “Now, they have written to me asking me to send whatever we want. But earlier they rejected the tableaux on Bhagat Singh saying it should have depicted a national character,” he said.
Mann said they were planning ISBT and local bus stand for all cities in the state starting from Amritsar. The local bus stand would have buses plying within 30-40 km radius of the city. The local bus station and ISBT would have connectivity with a free shuttle bus service, he said, adding that his government will also appoint corona warriors in hospitals across the state.
Meanwhile, while flagging of 58 new ambulances, Mann said that those will work in tandem with the Sadak Surkhya Force to save the lives of people. Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh said that the ambulances have been purchased at a cost of Rs 14 crore and are equipped with life saving drugs and ultra modern equipments. With the addition, the fleet now has 325 ambulances and are will reach patients within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas.
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