Will work together, says Punjab CM Mann after Kataria appointed as new guv

Chandigarh, Jul 28 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said he will welcome Gulab Chand Kataria, the new governor of the state, and work in coordination with him.

Kataria replaced Banwarilal Purohit as the Governor of Punjab as part of major gubernatorial appointments announced Saturday night.

President Droupadi Murmu has accepted the resignation of Purohit as the Governor of Punjab and the administrator of Chandigarh. Purohit had tendered his resignation in February this year,

Responding to a question on the new incumbent, Mann said that on Sunday morning, he spoke to Kataria, who told him that he would take oath on July 31.

“The president has appointed the new governor. We will welcome the new governor. We will work together,” Mann told reporters here after flagging off 58 new ambulances.

The CM said he respected Purohit but was not happy with his visits to the border districts. Purohit tried to create an “atmosphere of conflict,” he also said.

Referring to his recent two-day visit to Jalandhar, Mann said the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police could not go with him as they were accompanying the governor to his visits to the border districts.

“How could he run a parallel (government),” Mann said, adding, he had no role in Purohit’s resignation.

On Friday, when Purohit was asked why he resigned, he had said, “Maybe I thought that the CM did not like me.”

Mann had on Thursday hit out at Purohit over his visits to border areas, saying he should refrain from creating an “atmosphere of conflict” and instead inaugurate a seminar at a university.

Purohit during his visits to the border districts had held meetings with villagers and officials of police and central agencies.

He had on Tuesday visited Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts and Amritsar on Wednesday. It was his seventh such visit as governor.

Purohit and Mann earlier had been at loggerheads over various issues including the summing of Assembly Session and appointments of vice-chancellors of state-run universities.