High Voltage drama surfaced when Governor Banwari Lal Purohit referring to the State Government as “My Government” in the beginning of the Budget session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Friday . Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa objected to Governor Banwarilal Purohit referring to the state government as “my government” and pointed out to the governor and said “You are saying ‘my government’” in your address, this government has not even replied to your letters seeking answers on several matters.’’ In between his address Governor quoted, “Caesar’s wife should not only be above suspicion but should be seen to be so”.
There were stern exchange of words between the opposition benches and treasury and then Governor Purohit said, “Okay, I will say government and not my government,” adding that it was better to avoid controversy. This led to more protests from the treasury benches with Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann getting up. His mic was also not switched on, but he could be heard saying to the governor that this was his government and that he had called the Budget session. Mann told the Leader of Opposition that he could debate on the issue when there is a discussion on the governor’s address and that they should not interrupt the Governor.
The Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan also got up and went up to speak to Purohit, following which the governor resumed his address but he omitted the words ‘’my government” in the prepared text. At this point, Mann got up again and protested that the governor must use the words ‘my government’ in his speech. The governor intervened by saying that this was not the first time that he had been a governor. “Ek minute meri baat suniye. This is not the first time I am governor. I was governor of Tamil Nadu, Assam and Meghalaya. In some states, there is ‘government’ mentioned and in some states ‘my government’ in the address. It is not that important,” Purohit said.
On Bajwa’s protest, the governor commented that to an extent the chief minister was also correct because the Cabinet has passed the decision on the address.
Here, the governor digressed from his address and added a line of his own. “Here I would like to add something. When we are talking about transparency, Caesar’s wife should not only be above suspicion but should be seen to be so”.
There was a second interruption in the Governor’s speech when he referred to the measures taken by the state government on education in the state. Bajwa asked if the state government had replied to certain queries by him regarding the training of principals in Singapore.
The governor repeated the “Caesar’s wife” comment and asked the LoP to wait for the reply. “Now that I am saying ‘my government’, I am confident that whatever information I ask they will submit to me,” he said.
Purohit also asked Bajwa and Congress MLAs to argue in the debate after his address and not now. “I will request the LoP that you have a fortnight to discuss these things. Please let me complete the speech,” he said.
The Congress MLAs then got up and walked out of the house shouting that there was no point in listening to the speech since the state government considered him a “selected governor” even as the governor asked them to stay and listen to his address.
Towards the end, the governor once again interrupted his prepared speech to make a comment and said there should not be name calling in house. “Use healthy words,” he emphasized, adding that a message should go out that this is a ‘healthy Vidhan Sabha’.
The governor went on to say there should be total transparency in government and this transparency should extend to private life too. “If you are sitting in a club with a friend, your family should know where you are and with whom. Everything should be in the open. Why hide anything? This is my humble request to you as a senior. I have every right to advise you and I am confident that you will follow the advise,” he said. Governor concluded his address with “Waheguru ji da Khalsa, Waheguru ji di fateh”
