The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave the approval to recommend Governor Banwarilal Purohit for dissolution of the 15th Punjab Vidhan Sabha, a day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a landslide victory in the state Assembly elections.
A decision to this effect was taken during a virtual Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi at his official residence in the morning hours.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office mentioned the governor's authority to dissolve the state legislature."Punjab governor is authorised to dissolve the State Legislature as per sub-clause (b) of clause (2) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India. This move being a Constitutional necessity would now eventually pave a way for the formation of 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha" stated the official.
At the end of the meeting, the Chief Minister thanked all his cabinet colleagues, officers, employees and people for overall development and maintaining peace and tranquillity in the state during the tenure of the present government.
The Chief Minister also congratulated the incoming government and hoped that the new government would earnestly implement the promises made to the people.
"He also hopes that the decisions taken by his government in the public interest such as reduction of electricity rates, slashing VAT on oil besides decreasing rates of sand and gravel etc. would be continued by the next government" read the statement.
The counting of votes for Punjab Assembly elections took place on Thursday. The AAP had a landslide win in the Punjab Assembly polls by winning 92 seats to form its government in the state with a three-fourth majority in the 117-member legislative assembly.
In the Punjab election, the ruling Congress managed to secure 18 seats while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended up with two seats. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) bagged three seats while Bahujan Samaj Party managed to win a solitary seat.
Punjab witnessed a multi-cornered contest with key players being Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and the coalition of Bharatiya Janata Party-former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt) led by SS Dhindsa. Congress' Charanjit Singh Channi, Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu all lost to AAP candidates.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won 77 seats whereas Shiromani Akali Dal could win only 15 seats, BJP netted three and independent candidates won two seats. AAP had emerged as the second-largest party with 20 seats.
( With inputs from ANI )
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