After Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit withdrew his consent for a special session of the House on Wednesday night, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday, 22 September, convened a meeting with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in the Punjab Assembly.
The Punjab Cabinet had approved the summoning of a special session of the Assembly on Thursday, for a confidence motion, days after the ruling AAP accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to topple its government in the state.
Reacting to the development, AAP MLAs on Thursday took out a protest march from the Vidhan Sabha to the Raj Bhavan.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Police used water cannons to prevent BJP workers from gheraoing the chief minister's official residence in Chandigarh. Later, several BJP leaders were detained by police.
'Failure of Operation Lotus': Kejriwal
Earlier, Mann had called the governor's decision "undemocratic," while AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal blamed it on the "failure of Operation Lotus."
CM Mann also said that a special session of the Punjab Assembly will now be summoned on 27 September.
“Today, a cabinet meeting was held. In this meeting it was unanimously decided that the Vidhan Sabha session will be summoned on September 27,” said Mann.
In the session, issues like electricity and stubble burning will be discussed, he said.
He further said they will approach the Supreme Court against the move of withdrawal of the order calling the special session.
'No Water Cannon Can Stop The BJP'
Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma and other senior party leaders including Jeevan Gupta and Subhash Sharma were participating in the protest.
Talking to reporters, Ashwani Sharma said the BJP will expose the AAP government for having allegedly failed on all fronts in the state.
The government failed to keep its poll promises like Rs 1,000 per month for women. It also failed to address public issuesAshwani Sharma, Chief, Punjab BJP
Sharma alleged that the Mann government was only trying to "please" Arvind Kejriwal and not resolving burning issues like drugs, corruption and deteriorating law and order in Punjab.
"Holding a protest is our democratic right and no water cannon can stop the BJP from raising public issues," he said.
'No Specific Provision,' Says Governor; AAP Attacks BJP, Congress
The governor's decision came after Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira, and Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma approached Purohit, 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.
"This matter was examined and a legal opinion was sought from Satya Pal Jain, the additional solicitor general of India. He has given 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," news agency ANI reported, citing a release from the office of Principal Secretary to the Governor.
In this background, AAP accused Congress of colluding with BJP and said, "governments are formed and run by the majority of the people. But BJP and Congress together are insulting the vote of Punjab."
Hitting back, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring termed the AAP's activities as "drama" and hailed the governor's decision.
"It is obvious that it was a drama from day one and good that the curtains have been pulled down on their theatre of absurd at the right time," Warring said, as per NDTV.
BJP leader Amit Malviya, too, backed the decision of the governor and said that it was "rooted in constitutionality."
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and NDTV.)
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