Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit resigns; cites personal reasons

Chandigarh: Amid the feud with the ruling Bhagawant Mann government in Punjab, Governor Banwarilal Purohit resigned from office on Saturday. He submitted his resignation before President Droupadi Murmu and cited personal reasons for his resignation, PTI reported.

"Due to my personal reasons and certain other commitments, I tender my resignation from the post of governor of Punjab and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh. Please accept the same and oblige," Purohit wrote in his resignation letter.

Purohit's resignation came a day after he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.

Their meeting came days after the BJP swept the Chandigarh mayoral polls, retaining all three posts, a setback to the Congress-AAP alliance, which alleged tampering with ballot papers by the presiding officer.

On Wednesday, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court denied interim relief to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The party had sought fresh polls under the supervision of a retired judge of the court.

On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to consider an AAP councillor's request seeking an urgent hearing of his plea challenging the high court order.

Purohit had been at loggerheads with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over several issues, including holding the Assembly sessions and appointments of vice-chancellors. Purohit had also taken exception to Mann calling his official letters "love letters."

Purohit was appointed as Punjab governor and Chandigarh administrator in August 2021.

Before that he had served as the governor of Assam from 2016 to 2017 and the governor of Tamil Nadu from 2017 to 2021.

Purohit was also a three-time Lok Sabha member from Nagpur in 1984, 1989, and 1996.