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Journalism of Courage
Their relationship already on the rocks, the confrontation between Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and the state government, led by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), appears to have reached a flashpoint, with Purohit touring border areas of the state and making statements that indict the government, such as “drugs are available in grocery shops across the state”.
Hours after the Governor made this statement on Wednesday, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann held a meeting with Deputy Commissioners, Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police, telling them not to get “disheartened by statements made by anyone and everyone”. He also told the officers to “keep up the good work”, as the recoveries showed they were on top of the situation and that they should treat the menace of drugs as “white terrorism”. He added that the Punjab Police is well-known for having eliminated militancy in the state.
A day earlier, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora had hit out at the Governor for his two-day visit to the border areas. He accused the Governor of “going around, making political speeches and running a parallel government”. He also said the “Governor was not upholding the dignity of the post he held”.
This is not the first time Purohit has toured the border areas. In the past, he has travelled across the state at least twice and made statements about availability of drugs, castigating the government of the day.
Two months ago, the Governor, who is also the Administrator of Chandigarh, had repatriated Punjab cadre IPS officer Kuldeep Singh Chahal to the state, after the UT administration accused the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Chandigarh of “misconduct”. It earned the ire of Punjab CM Mann, who threw the rule book to remind the Governor that the UT hadn’t sought a list of Punjab IPS officers as replacement, as is the norm, before repatriating Chahal.
The state government recently posted Chahal as Commissioner of Jalandhar Police. Days later, the CBI began preliminary inquiry against Chahal. Sources told The Indian Express that this was based on references forwarded by Purohit’s office.
Earlier, on October 12, the Governor had confronted the CM over the appointment of well-known cardiologist Dr G S Wander as the VC of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences. Turning down the state’s recommendation, Purohit had said the government could have sent him a panel of three to choose from, instead.
A week later, on October 19, the Governor asked the CM to rescind the appointment of Dr S S Gosal as the VC of Punjab Agricultural University, calling it illegal. Mann, however, dug in his heels and asked Dr Gosal to continue.
Purohit also prevented the state government from convening a special session on September 21 to table a confidence motion to demonstrate that the party continued to enjoy the support of all its MLAs. This, after the government alleged an “Operation Lotus” type attempt by the BJP to topple it.
CM Mann hit out, calling the Governor’s intransigence an attack on democracy. The AAP leadership went on the offensive, calling a Cabinet meeting to recommend a regular session on September 27. A day later, the Governor asked the state government to submit a list of legislative businesses that were to be taken up in the session. The government managed to get the Governor’s approval, only for him to prorogue the House later.
The war of letters has been going on for some time now. On July 22, the Governor had written a letter to CM Mann, seeking a comprehensive report at the earliest on why the government was not paying out the SC scholarship scheme on time, leading to a higher dropout rate in government schools. He had then written, “If it is correct, it would be a most reprehensible violation of constitutional rights of SC students and grave injustice to them.”
On April 13, 2022, the Governor had visited border districts and said rampant illegal mining and sale of drugs were causes of concern on which the government needed to act. Before this, he sat on a Bill that sought to curtail multiple pensions of MLAs, only giving his consent after a long delay.
