Punjab Guv Banwarilal Purohit resigns due to personal reasons

Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Banwarilal Purohit resigned on Saturday citing "personal reasons and certain other commitments".

In a letter addressed to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, Purohit said, "Due to my personal reasons and certain other commitments, I tender my resignation from the post of the Governor of Punjab and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh. Please accept the same and oblige."

The Governor had met Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Friday.


The resignation also comes amid an on-going tussle between the Governor and the state government for not approving bills passed by the assembly. The row escalated when the matter was taken to Supreme Court and it observed that a little bit of soul-searching by governors is needed.

Purohit was involved in a running feud with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

On November 1, 2023, the veteran BJP leader gave his approval to two of the three bills sent to him, days after he wrote to Mann, saying he would examine all the proposed laws on merit before allowing those to be tabled in the Assembly.

In August 2021, Purohit was named administrator of Chandigarh and governor of Punjab.

Prior to this, Purohit held the positions of governor of Tamil Nadu from 2017 to 2021 and Assam from 2016 to 2017.

In addition, Purohit represented Nagpur in the Lok Sabha three times, in 1984, 1989, and 1996.