Chandigarh, Feb 28 (PTI) The Punjab governor is bound to accept the decisions taken by the state Cabinet, senior AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang said on Tuesday and asserted that in the "real sense", power lies with elected representatives and not with nominated governors.

Kang's comment came after Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit summoned the state assembly for the budget session on March 3.

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Amid a tussle with the AAP government, Purohit told the Supreme Court that he has summoned the assembly even as the top court told both sides that constitutional discourse has to be conducted with a sense of decorum and mature statesmanship.

Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday evening, Kang, who is the chief spokesperson of the Punjab unit of the AAP, said the question which arose in the present context was how will the government function "if the governor interferes like this".

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He said be it the governor or the chief minister, both are accountable to the Constitution and claimed that according to the Constitution, a decision of the council of ministers is supreme.

The Punjab government had moved the apex court because the assembly session summoned by the Cabinet was "not being given approval" by the governor, he said.

"The Punjab government moved the Supreme Court as the Council of Ministers under Article 163 of the Constitution that empowers it to take decisions, the Governor is bound to accept that..." Kang said.

Governments are run according to the Constitution whose spirit empowers the elected representatives, he said.

"In the real sense power lies with elected representatives of the public and not with nominated governors," the AAP leader said.

"...Yes, if there is any constitutional crisis, definitely...(then governor can intervene)," he said.

To another question, Kang said in the upcoming budget session of the state assembly, several key decisions will be taken which will shape Punjab's future.

Decisions related to the state's economy will also be taken in which the governor's salary also comes, he said.

"The questions which were being raised on the budget session, in context of that Supreme Court has given a historic decision...it is a positive decision. It is a victory of the Constitution and the people," Kang said.

The AAP leader asked Governor Purohit not to allow "political misuse" of his office and maintain its decorum.

The apex court, which was hearing the state government's plea against the governor's alleged "refusal" to summon the budget session for March 3, said the Punjab government is duty-bound to furnish information as sought by the governor and at the same time the governor is also duty-bound to accept the recommendations of the Cabinet on the convening of the assembly.

It said there was no occasion for the Punjab governor to seek legal advice on whether to convene a budget session as he is bound by the aid and advice of ministers.

The tussle between Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had worsened last week with Purohit indicating he is in no hurry to summon the assembly's budget session, and reminding the CM about his "derogatory" response to a letter from the Raj Bhavan.

In that February 13 letter, the governor had asked Mann to explain the process of selecting 36 government school principals for a training seminar held recently in Singapore, and raised other issues as well.

Mann had responded that he was only answerable to three crore Punjabis, not to a Centre-appointed governor and also questioned the Centre's criteria for appointing governors.

Purohit had called Mann's replies not only "patently unconstitutional but extremely derogatory" also, saying he was compelled to take legal advice.

Mann had last week said his government had to move the apex court for calling the budget session of state assembly and alleged that the governors appointed by the Centre are "acting as star campaigners of the saffron party in the respective states".

Last year too, there had been a squabble between the governor and the AAP government over holding a session of the Punjab assembly.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)