Days after Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit directed the state government to cancel the recent appointment of new Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Ludhiana, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday justified it and accused Purohit of “interfering in the functioning of the government elected with a massive mandate.”

In a letter to the Governor on Thursday, the CM reiterated that Gosal’s appointment was carried out according to the Haryana and Punjab Agricultural University Act, 1970, by the PAU’s board. He said the approval of the Governor or the CM was not required for the appointment.

“Dr Satbir Singh Gosal is a known scientist and a respectable Punjabi Sikh. Your direction to remove such a person has become a cause of anger among Punjabis,” reads the letter written in Punjabi.

Taking on the Governor, Mann accused Purohit of interfering in the functioning of the government elected with a massive mandate. He said that this has saddened the people of Punjab.

In the letter shared by him on Twitter, Mann said: “Earlier, you created hurdles in the Vidhan Sabha session, then rejected the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and now you have objected to the appointment of the PAU V-C.”

“The people of the state have elected the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government with high aspirations. When someone creates hurdles in the functioning of the government, people don’t tolerate it,” he said.

The CM, however, said that he had met the Governor on a number of occasions in the past and found him to be a good and honest person. Mann said that it was unlikely that he was acting like this on his own.

Asking the Governor who was behind his latest moves, the CM appealed Purohit to not to listen to such persons as they were not Punjab’s well-wishers. He said that the elected government should be allowed to function.

The Governor, who is the Chancellor of the state universities, on Tuesday, asked the CM to remove Satbir Singh Gosal as VC of PAU as his appointment was “without following UGC norms and approval of the Chancellor.”

Earlier, Purohit declined to clear the appointment of cardiologist Gurpreet Wander as (VC) of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot saying the government violated the rules by recommending only one name for the post.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said the Punjab government may soon follow Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government to install the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of all state universities instead of the Governor.

Sources said that the AAP government may soon introduce a Bill seeking to replace Governor Banwarilal Purohit with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as the Chancellor of all state-run universities.