Governor vs AAP in Punjab: Special assembly session cancelled; Kejriwal, Mann react

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit withdrew order summoning a special Assembly session on Thursday for the AAP government to move confidence motion.

Chandigarh:The one-day special session of the Punjab assembly called by the Aam Aadmi Party government to move a confidence motion on Thursday will not take place as Governor Banwarilal Purohit has withdrawn his orders regarding the same.

The Raj Bhavan cited the absence of specific rules on summoning the Assembly for considering only a confidence motion. The decision came after Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma approached the governor, arguing that 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.

In his order withdrawing permission for the special session, the governor said he took the decision after seeking legal advice from Additional Solicitor General of India Satya Pal Jain. Jain gave his legal opinion that there is no specific provision regarding summoning of the Assembly for considering the "confidence motion" only, in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, a letter sent to the secretary of the Punjab Assembly by the Raj Bhavan read.

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. Meanwhile, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal hit out at Punjab Governor asking how he can deny permission to an Assembly session sought by the state cabinet. The Delhi chief minister also alleged that the governor withdrew his earlier order after he received a call from his "higher-ups".

"How can the governor refuse permission to a session sought by the cabinet? There is no democracy in that case," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. He said the governor had earlier given his nod to the special Assembly session.

"When Operation Lotus started failing and the numbers (of MLAs) did not add up, a call came from the higher-ups asking to withdraw the permission. Today, there is the Constitution on one side and Operation Lotus on the other in the country," Kejriwal said.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann also tweeted questioning the governor's decision. "The governor not allowing the assembly to run raises big questions on the democracy of the country. Will democracy be run by the elected representatives of crores of people or a person appointed by the central government?Constitution of Bhimrao ji on one side and operation lotus on the other," Mann tweeted in Hindi.

AAP leader Raghav Chadha said Purohit withdrawing his earlier order raises a "serious question mark on his intent". "This order further proves the sinister design of Operation Lotus," he alleged in a tweet. "It is beyond any reasonable understanding as to why there should be any objection to a government's decision to face the Assembly?" Chadha asked.

Leader of Opposition Bajwa, meanwhile, welcomed the governor's decision. "It is a historic decision," he told reporters. The Congress leader said no rules or procedures of the Assembly allow convening a session only for the purpose of moving a confidence motion in favour of the government.

The governor has saved the institution, he said, while describing those associated with the AAP as "anarchists". The AAP government in Punjab had sought the special Assembly session to bring a confidence motion. The state cabinet had approved the summoning of the special session on Tuesday. It had approved the recommendation to be sent to the governor for summoning the special session of the House under Article 174(1) of the Constitution.

The session was summoned days after the AAP accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to topple its government in Punjab. The AAP had recently claimed that at least 10 of its MLAs were approached by the saffron party with an offer of Rs 25 crore each to switch sides in a bid to topple the six-month-old government.