Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 8: The BJP –government-appointed governors in the non-ruled states are constantly at loggerheads with the respective state governments, in several cases crossing even the limits of normal decency and respect for the posts.
The continuous war-like situation between the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi and lieutenant governor VK Saxena and the LG before him is no secret. In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee could breathe a sigh of relief after the centre decided to promote the governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the vice-president of India. The governor – government tussle remained almost a daily affair so long the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by the Shiv Sea leader Udhhav Thackeray held the office and has vanished from the newsstand from the day Sena Rebels jointly with the BJP formed the government in Maharashtra, though the same Bhagat Singh Koshyari remained in the Raj-Bhavan.
Almost all the governors before assuming the gubernatorial charge were senior and active BJP leaders and even after appointed as the constitutional heads of the states, they often exceeded their briefs and acted like the political leaders of yesteryears and converted the respective state Raj-Bhavans into BJP headquarters. In many cases, the governors are holding back the bills passed by the legislative assemblies without giving their consent or forwarding the same to the president in appropriate cases.
With most of the states in the west and northern parts of India have now gone under the control of the BJP, a major fight is now brewing in the southern states where the BJP has still not been able to make much dint except in Karnataka. The ruling parties in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana are particularly seething in rage for the behaviour of their governors allegedly hindering the functioning of the stat governments.
The Governors in the three states have been accused of acting like “puppets of the Centre” by state governments who have had several run-ins with them on key legislation. Anger against the Centre-appointed Governors has spilled over state boundaries as regional parties look across party lines to consolidate forces and take on the ruling BJP. In Kerala, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, the ruling parties have planned several protests and marches against the Governors.
Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK on Tuesday attacked Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan for “poking her nose” in the neighbouring state’s politics. Ms Soundararajan, who was a senior BJP leader in Tamil Nadu before taking office, is also under fire in Telangana from Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s TRS over recruitments in state universities.
DMK mouthpiece Murasoli on Tuesday responded to Governor Soundararajan’s remark that the party’s top political family has Telugu roots. “Telangana Governor should not do politics in Tamil Nadu. This is not her job. Let her resign and do politics in Tamil Nadu,” it said, adding that Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi already “exceeds limits and makes remarks causing confusion,” Tamilisai Soundararajan should function within political and legal parameters, and the honour of states, Murasoli said.
The DMK had earlier this month written a letter to ‘all the like-minded MPs’ urging them to back a proposal seeking the removal of RN Ravi as Governor for “acting against the Constitution”. The party said his actions and comments showed he was “unfit” for the post. It urged “like-minded MPs” to sign the memorandum.
There are as many as 20 Bills pending Governor’s assent in Tamil Nadu. In April, DMK party leaders had protested against RN Ravi for not sending the NEET Exemption Bill to the President after being passed twice in the state Assembly. Under the rules, a governor can send back a draft bill if he or she did not agree with any of the provisions and return to the government for necessary action but has no power to reject or hold back the bill if it is passed again by the state assembly.
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan is also at loggerheads with the state government. She has summoned the state’s Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy to discuss a common recruitment board for all 15 state universities in accordance with University Grants Commission rules. Ms Soundararajan asked why vacancies have not been filled even after several reminders in the last three years.
The TRS-led state government had sent a Bill to the Governor — one of eight pending with her — that would allow direct recruitment to teaching and non-teaching posts, except in medical university, for her approval. Her refusal to sign it has enraged Telangana university students as well, who called her a “puppet of the Centre” and warned of marching to the Raj Bhavan in protest on Wednesday.
Governor Soundararajan has also accused the state government of not following protocol courtesies. She said she wasn’t allowed to address the people on Republic Day this year. She was also denied the opportunity to address a joint session of the state assembly. The state’s counter-accusation is that the Governor had refused to sign a cabinet resolution appointing TRS leader Kaushik Reddy as an MLC under the Governor quota.
In Kerala, Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, already in a bitter war of words with the CPI(M) led government, has also stoked the ire of journalists by expelling two of them from top Malayalam TV channels from his press briefing at the Ernakulam guest house.
Governor Khan has accused the two journalists and their channels of bias towards the Pinarayi Vijayan government. The state’s journalists’ body has slammed him for “undemocratic behaviour”, stating that this is not the first time he has barred journalists. Last month, he called some journalists and news outlets “cadre media” and ordered that they not be allowed at a press conference he was addressing.
Journalists under the banner of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists on Tuesday marched in protest to the Governor’s house. On Monday, Mr Khan had “challenged” the state government to “barge into my office” or “attack me on the road.” He was reacting to the announcement by the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) that a massive protest would be held in front of Raj Bhavan on November 15.
The party alleges that the Governor has been delaying key legislation. On October 26, the Left party also staged a protest march against the Governor over his order demanding resignation from university Vice-Chancellors over what he terms “a system of oligarchy”.
The CPI(M) has demanded that the Governor’s post be abolished. The party plans a meeting of different parties in Delhi to discuss the constitutional provisions on the governor. The party is also considering going to the Supreme Court on his refusal to give assent to Bills forwarded after cabinet approval. It has argued that a Governor cannot sit as an appellate authority over the decision of the cabinet or the legislature.