Banwarilal Purohit Resigns As Punjab Governor, Cites 'Personal Reasons'

The resignation comes a day after Purohit met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday, 2 February.

(Photo: The Quint)

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday, 3 February, citing "personal reasons."

“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.

The resignation comes a day after Purohit met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday, 2 February.

Banwarilal Purohit took charge as the Punjab governor in August 2021, after serving as the Tamil Nadu governor for four years.

In the past two years, there have been several occasions which saw Purohit in loggerheads with the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government.

The resignation also comes days after the AAP approached the Supreme Court, raising allegations of "malpractice" in the recently held Chandigarh Mayoral elections.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manoj Sonkar became the new Mayor of Chandigarh after the party won the Mayoral election on Tuesday, 30 January. Sonkar got 16 votes against Congress-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Kuldeep Tita, who got 12 votes.