Expressing concern over the alleged constitutional misconduct, a delegation of the state BJP on Sunday submitted a memorandum to Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, urging him to seek an explanation on Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann recently coming to the Vidhan Sabha in “an inebriated condition”.
The delegation also urged him to consider Mann’s removal from the post in the interest of “preserving constitutional integrity and public trust”.
The BJP leaders, who called upon the governor, include state president Sunil Jakhar, working president Ashwani Sharma, former Union minister Vijay Sampla, former state president Shwait Malik, former minister Manoranjan Kalia, former Union minister Preneet Kaur, former minister Manpreet Badal, state vice president Subhash Sharma and media head Vineet Joshi.
Questioning the conduct of the Chief Minister, the memorandum said, “It has been widely reported and publicly discussed that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann attended the May 1 session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly in an inebriated condition. The way he addressed the Assembly and reporters outside the house, it clearly showed he was drunk.”
“In iew of the above, we urge Your Excellency to seek an appropriate explanation and recommend necessary action, including consideration of his removal, in the interest of preserving constitutional integrity and public trust,” it read.
The party has sought that the governor seek a detailed report on the conduct of the chief minister and take appropriate constitutional measures. The party said he should ensure that security cover decisions are made transparently and strictly based on objective threat assessments. “It has also been sought that the governor should call the DGP and chief secretary and tell them that no corrupt person should get security cover.”,
The representation also questioned the “arbitrary and politically motivated” abrupt removal of security cover of the five Rajya Sabha MPs who joined the BJP.
