Punjab governor threatens President's rule, criminal proceeding amid surging tussle with CM Bhagwant Mann

livemint.com:

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann does not ‘respond to his letters’. The latest development comes amid a surging tussle between the two chiefs of Punjab state.

Governor Purohit has advised Chief Minister Mann to act before he takes this “final decision" under Article 356 of the Constitution, and section 124 of the Indian Penal Code. In his latest communication to Mann, Governor Purohit indicated he was upset over not getting any reply from him on his previous, and warned him that he could send a report to the President on “failure of constitutional mechanism." “I am pained to point out that there is reason to believe that there is failure of the constitutional machinery in the state," Purohit said in his fresh letter to Mann.

The ongoing tussle between Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and State Governor Banwarilal Purohit has been an unending one. In the past few months, the two have locked horns over several issues and the spats in the form of exchange of letters, tweets, bytes in the media and the use of unparliamentary language have all happened in the public domain.

Both have been accusing each other of “not fulfilling constitutional duties". "Before I am going to take final decision regarding sending a report to the President of India under Article 356 about the failure of the constitutional mechanism and take a decision about initiating criminal proceedings under section 124 of the IPC, I ask you to send me the requisite information sought for under my letters referred to above, as also in the matter of the steps taken by you concerning the problem of drugs in the State, failing which I would have no choice but to take action according to law and the Constitution," governor Purohit wrote.