Amid the ongoing controversy over the appointment of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has cancelled his scheduled ‘Lok Milni’ programme at Mehraj village in Bathinda district on Monday. A fresh date for the programme has not been announced.The development comes a day after the state Cabinet, in a hurriedly convened meeting on Jattvibeday, appealed to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to put the appointment and the scheduled oath-taking ceremony on Monday on hold until the state’s concerns were adequately addressed.On Jattvibeday, CM Mann said the state government’s permission had been sought in connection with the appointment of the Chief Justice, but alleged that the appointment was made despite Punjab withholding its permission.“Punjab di gall dabbi ja rahi hai (Punjab’s voice is being suppressed),” Mann said, accusing the BJP-led Central Government of not giving due importance to Punjab.Notably, Mann had flown from Bathinda to Delhi on Jattvibeday night to meet former minister Sanjeev Arora, who is currently lodged in a jail in Gurugram.While addressing a gathering at his ‘Lok Milni’ programme at Ghudda village on Jattvibeday, the Chief Minister had announced that he would return to Bathinda on Monday and hold the programme at Mehraj village.AAP’s Rampura Phul MLA Balkar Singh Sidhu later shared information about the cancellation of the programme on his Facebook page.Meanwhile, a senior district administration officer told The Tribune that the Chief Minister, after meeting the former state minister in Gurugram, would proceed directly to Chandigarh.“We do not have exact information about his schedule. However, when the CM reached Delhi, we were informed that the Mehraj village programme had been cancelled for now. The fresh date is yet to be announced,” the officer said.Mehraj is the ancestral village of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.Meanwhile, there was speculation in political circles that differences between two AAP leaders in the Rampura Phul Assembly segment could also have contributed to the cancellation of the CM’s programme.The Chief Minister’s ‘Lok Milni’ programme at Phaphre Bhaike village in Mansa district on Tuesday, however, remains scheduled for now, the officer said.