Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday resigned from his post citing personal reasons. In his letter to President Draupadi Murmu, Purohit requested the President to accept his resignation from the post of Governor of Punjab as well as the Union territory of Chandigarh.

The resignation of Purohit occurred amidst tension with the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, as they have been fighting over assent to pending bills, now being handled by the Supreme Court.

The governor and CM Mann have been engaged in a war of words for the last few months over several issues related to pending bills.

Last year in August, Purohit sent a strongly worded letter to the Mann government, warning him that he could recommend the President’s rule in the state and also initiate criminal proceedings if his letters were not answered.

Recently, he said Mann’s government was not responding to his previous letter and warned him that he could send a report to the President on the failure of the constitutional mechanism.

In his response, Mann said that the Governor had threatened the peace-loving people of the state and that law and order were in complete control.

CM Mann said the majority of letters sent by the Governor have been answered.

Earlier in October, Purohit wrote a letter to Mann regarding the Tarn Taran illegal mining incident and sought a detailed report following the same.

In the latter, he also mentioned the allegation of an MLA about corruption in the police, the involvement of the MLA’s close relative in illegal mining, and the suspension of police officials and the subsequent transfer of SSP Tarn Taran.

On Friday, Purohit had a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Chandigarh. Their meeting occurred shortly after the BJP’s sweeping win in the Chandigarh mayoral polls, where they retained all three positions, a loss for the Congress-Aam Aadmi Party alliance, who claimed the presiding officer manipulated the ballot papers.

The Chandigarh mayoral elections have been postponed till further notice. The mayoral election, which was scheduled to take place today was called off after the ill health of Anil Masih, presiding authority for the polls, as per the notice.

After receiving the text messages regarding the postponement of the elections in Chandigarh, the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) attacked the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) saying the BJP was afraid of their defeat. Congress and AAP are fighting the mayoral election together against the BJP in Chandigarh.

In fact, Congress leader Pawan Bansal went on to say that he had received the information that the presiding officer had been hospitalised with the intention to postpone the mayor election by the BJP. They have done a totally undemocratic thing, he charged.

AAP said the BJP was going to face defeat, while Congres said the BJP was not ready to face defeat.     

On Chandigarh mayor elections postponed, Congress leader HS Lucky said BJP is killing democracy. BJP thinks they will lose because they have 15 votes and we, the APP-Congress alliance, have 20 votes. They know the alliance will win all three posts of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor, and Deputy Mayor, the Congress leader added.

AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, on mayoral election, said AAP and Congress have decided to approach the High Court for justice and ensure that the mayoral election is held. He further said that it is clear that INDIA alliance is winning this election and the BJP is losing. BJP has got scared of the INDIA alliance, he added. We request the EC to appoint another presiding officer if the existing one has fallen ill but the election should take place today, Chadha said.

We had valid passes to enter the election building, but we were told that entry had been closed as the presiding officer had suddenly fallen ill. To end democracy and free and fair elections in the country, BJP will do anything, the AAP leader slammed BJP.

A CCTV video, that has emerged from Punjab’s Jalandhar district, showcases a policeman being hit by a speeding car at the high-tech checkpost in Kawan Pattan village near to Sultej river in Shahkot on Thursday.

The victim has been identified as Assistant of Sub-Inspector Surjit Singh, who was posted there on duty, he was standing in the middle of the road, signalling to stop the speeding car, but instead of stopping, the car hit the cop.

The driver, instead of extending help, fled the spot.

ASI Surjit Singh, a resident of Bajwa Kalan, was serving in Jalandhar Dehat Police. In a video that has surfaced, we can see that the driver ran over the police officer and then lost control of the vehicle. The driver did not offer any assistance and fled from the spot of the incident.

ASI Surjit’s condition is critical, and the entire incident was captured on CCTV. The video shows the car dragging the ASI after hitting him.

On Thursday, he was on duty at a high-tech checkpoint in Kawan Pattan village, which is adjacent to the Sutlej River in Shahkot. During his duty, in the afternoon, he signaled a white Jane car to stop. However, instead of stopping, the driver drove away. The car was coming at a high speed towards ASI Surjit, who tried to move to the side to avoid getting hit.

The driver hit the ASI with the car and dragged him, then dropped him on the divider a short distance away. After this, the car returned to the highway and stopped after hitting the railing. The driver got out of the car and ran away.

Singh was flung several feet in the area, as the impact was so severe. He fell onto the ground and crashed onto a road divider which led to severe injuries.

A senior official has stated that the police have registered a case against the unidentified driver, and efforts are underway to trace and bring him to justice.