Governor can't set agenda for Assembly going by cancellation of session on this vital aspect in Punjab turning battleground for Gujarat polls

 

Basic issue of federalism is missing in Bhagwant Mann Vs Governor heated debate in Punjab

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

Punjab having turned into the platform for Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party for their confrontation in the forthcoming Assembly elections in prestigious Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh is too obvious.

Defection by even twenty AAP MLAs can’t pose any threat to the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab but can definitely hit the ruling party in the state hard whose tremors can be felt in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and coastal Gujarat.

It is Gujarat that has the potential to set discourse for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections that is going to be the most crucial one for not only the BJP but also its parent organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh in the context of transforming India into Hindu Rashtra.

The conversation is already converging on AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal emerging as the main challenger to Narendra Modi.

What is happening in Punjab is crucial in this backdrop.

Otherwise, the BJP  occupies relatively smaller space in Punjab’s political dynamics.

The decision of the Bhagwant Mann government to convene special session of Assembly to seek vote of confidence and its cancellation  by Governor Banwari Lal Purohit thereby kicking up a storm is significant in this context.

What is missing in the entire conversation in the context of cancellation of Assembly session is the vital aspect of federalism that has been part of political discourse in this state ever since  the partition of the country and its main protagonist has been the Shiromani Akali Dal.

The Governor by cancelling the session has violated the autonomy of the state government. The decision to convene the session is taken by the council of ministers that decides the date and recommends to the Governor to summon session. As per the constitutional norms, the Governor acts on the advice of the council of ministers.

It is not the Governor who is to set the agenda or go through the agenda as that is the job of the government. The Governor withdrew the summoning of the Assembly on the issue of the agenda that was seeking vote of confidence.

It is for the constitution experts to go into this broader issue of power of the Governor to set agenda of the Assembly session. The cancellation of the session precisely on the issue of the agenda gives rise to this vital dimension of the power of the Governor.

Ironically, none of the political parties are raising the issue in the context of federalism.

The intention of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to seek vote of confidence of his own legislature party is a different issue. None has challenged his leadership publicly from within AAP.

The logic that was advanced by Arvind Kejriwal while seeking vote of confidence recently  in Delhi Assembly  was to frustrate Operation Lotus purportedly launched by the BJP to win over some AAP MLAs.

The operation can be executed in case the targeted MLAs so decide and the vote of confidence can’t stop them. At the most, this can be termed as political exercise.

Going by the defection law, in case the number of MLAs crossing over to the other side is less than two-third of the strength of that party, they would lose their seats.

AAP has a strength of 92 MLAs in a House of 117 and as such, the defection of even 20 MLAs would not pose threat to the Mann government but in the process, they would have to vacate their seats.

Can the MLAs take such risk of crossing over to the party whose future is uncertain in this state?

Of course, AAP in Punjab has already been losing the massive mandate that it had received in February last going by the Sangrur Lok Sabha byelection that this party lost and that too to a leader who was not perceived to be the winning horse. Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann created record by winning this seat that had been vacated by Bhagwant Mann himself. This shock defeat in itself was the signal that the AAP in Punjab was losing the confidence of the people.

If Punjab has become battleground for AAP and the BJP for dictating the destiny of India at a broader level via Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, that is a different scenario.

The functioning of AAP government in Punjab is already under close scrutiny.

The council of ministers has now decided to convene the session on September 27 and the agenda this time is different, not the confidence motion.

The government has the right to convene such special session.