Chandigarh: Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday thwarted the AAP government's plan to summon a special assembly session to bring a confidence motion.
The Governor withdrew an earlier order calling the special session on Thursday, saying it had sought legal opinion after the Congress and the BJP approached the Raj Bhavan arguing that the House rules did not allow it. The latest order from the Raj Bhavan said the assembly rules did not allow summoning a session just to pass a trust vote in favour of the government.
The AAP had alleged that the BJP was trying to bring down its government in Punjab by poaching its MLAs. It sought to prove its majority through a confidence motion.
The opposition BJP and the Congress had slammed the AAP move, accusing it of indulging in "theatrics" to divert attention of people from its failures. They asked why the AAP needed to move a trust vote when nobody had claimed that it had lost its majority in the House.
The Governor had given permission on September 20 for summoning the special session on September 22. His latest order withdraws that permission. "In absence of the specific rules regarding summoning of the assembly for considering the 'confidence motion' only called by the Punjab government on September 22, through special session of 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha, I Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Punjab, hereby withdraw my orders dated September 20, regarding summoning the 16th Vidhan Sabha of the state of Punjab to meet for its third (special) session at 11 am on Thursday, September 22, in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha hall, Vidhan Bhavan, Chandigarh," the latest order read. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal hit out the governor for the decision. "How can the governor refuse a session called by the cabinet? Then democracy is over," the Delhi chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann slammed the Governor for withdrawing his order of summoning the special session of the Assembly, saying not allowing it raises a big question on the country's democracy. "The governor not allowing the Assembly to run raises big questions on the country's democracy," Mann said.
The Governor's decision came after Congress leaders Partap Singh Bajwa and Sukhpal Singh Khaira, and Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma approached the Raj Bhavan, arguing that there was no legal provision to convene a special session just to move a 'confidence motion' in favour of the state government. In a letter to the governor, Khaira had stated that there is provision only for a no-confidence motion under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Chapter XII Para 58(1) but not for any Motion of Confidence.
In his order withdrawing permission, the Governor said he took the decision after seeking legal advice from Additional Solicitor General of India Satya Pal Jain.