Political Diary
New Delhi, 10 January 2023
Governor Vs Chief
Minister
NEED TO LAY DOWN NEW RULES
By Poonam I Kaushish
Public office has a lot to do with
perception. Wherein, your actions do the talking. Specially when it comes to
the high Constitutional office of the Governor. Alas, yesterday in an
unprecedented and unimaginable act Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi walked out of
the Assembly after Chief Minister Stalin asked Assembly Speaker to take on
record only the speech prepared by the State Government and remove portions
added by the Governor
The fracas had its genesis when the Governor began,
skipping portions of the Government-prepared customary address and adding his
own with ruling DMK MLAs raising slogans
against him for his remarks suggesting rechristening Tamil Nadu as 'Tamizhagam' at the
controversial Kasi Tamil Sangamam,
recently. “Don’t impose BJP, RSS, ideology,” they shouted.
In fact, bad blood between the DMK Government and Governor
has been simmering for over a year as the Governor has not yet given his assent
to the Bill banning online gambling and the Tamil Nadu Admission to
Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill resulting in the Government curtailing
Governor’s powers relating to education. Also the Government has demanded his
removal twice. Thereby, bringing to the fore the
fragile fault lines between two Constitutional entities.
Expectedly, this nadir has once again raised questions about a Governor’s
role, qualifications and his Constitutional obligations and duties. Arguably,
are Governors the Centre’s doormats? Or are they keepers of people’s faith as
Constitutional heads of States? Are there any rules to underscore some
semblance, coherence and uniformity in gubernatorial actions? A charter of
directions and guidelines? Has the time
come to reinvent his role in the Constitutional scheme of things?
True, one can argue what’s new about in today’s milieu
whereby governance is one big nautanki which
has rewritten the basic time-honoured rules of authority and turned democracy
on its head. Bend them, break them, who cares!
The confrontation between Governor and
Chief Minister is not just in Tamil Nadu. In September there was a standoff
between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor Arif Mohammad Khan
for seeking resignation of 9 Vice-Chancellors citing illegal
appointments. Earlier non-BJP
Governments ruled States Rajasthan, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, too
have seen a ding-dong battle between both, affecting their functioning.
Vice President Dhankhar as
West Bengal Governor would summon the Chief Secretary and Director General Police
on a regular basis. Both Rajasthan and West Bengal have passed laws
against gubernatorial interference in education. In Rajasthan, the Governor has
been facing allegations of appointing Vice-Chancellors
with an RSS-BJP ideology in 7 of 8 universities, 6 of whom are from
outside Rajasthan.
The stand-offs are repeated in Delhi between LG Saxena and Chief Minister Kejriwal, Purohit vs Bhagwant Mann in Punjab, Tamilisai
Soundararajan and Chandrashekar Rao in Telengana,
Anusuiya Uikey vs Baghel in
Chhatisgarh and erstwhile Koshyari-Thackeray conflict in Maharashtra, further soiling
Centre-State relations.
With the emergence of regional Parties in States, the
ruling Party at the Centre is wary. Multi-polar electoral fights have
complicated matters as Governments are formed with wafer-thin majorities,
leading to political instability. The Governor is often used in such
circumstances as a lever, facilitator and at worst, a proxy of the Centre’s
nefarious designs to install its own Government, at any cost thus bringing the
post into severe disrepute.
Sadly our leaders have collectively quietly buried Constituent
Assembly debates which crafted a neutral and sanguine role for a Governor who was
supposed to be the Constitutional watchdog. Said Ambedkar, “The Governor has no
functions which he can discharge by himself at all….he is bound to accept the
advice of the Ministry.”
However, politics overshadowed the gubernatorial post. The
first row was in 1952 in Madras. Governor
Sri Prakasa’s was accused of acting inappropriately when he invited C
Rajagopalachari to form the Congress Government despite not fighting polls and elected
as MLA. After that, manipulations and machinations took place regularly.
Undoubtedly, the Governor has got multiple discretionary powers
but his unrestricted power to forming the Government is the most important and
controversial one. After the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, Ministerial
advice was made binding on the President, but not on the Governor which has led
to unseating of democratically-elected Governments..
As things stand today, the Governor is a political
appointee and due to real politik demands
his allegiance to the Party at the Centre is over-arching. The post is seen as
a perfect lollypop for political castaways, parting gifts for subservient
bureaucrats and convenient posts for inconvenient rivals, totaling over 60%
today. His essential criteria: whether
he can be a chamcha .Consequently,
the Governor has become a convenient tool of the Centre specially in
Opposition-ruled States where he runs the administration by proxy.
By playing the I-spy game---petty politricking, gross
interference, open partisanship---at the Centre’s behest. Sending for files,
summoning Ministers and bureaucrats. To hear, entice, provoke and register the
voice of dissent against the State Government to their political patrons in
Delhi. Bluntly, make life hell for the Chief Minister at every step.
The Opposition accuses Governors of being biased and the
Centre’s acolytes. But it’s like the pot calling the kettle black. Congress-appointed
Dharma Vira's dismissed West Bengal’s first non-Congress Government,
Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist Romesh Bhandari's catastrophic handling of UP
resulting in BJP’s Kalyan Singh-led Government and its recall in a week. Congress
UPA’s 2004-14 have used, misused and debased the gubernatorial office to
further their political agendas and got Governors to do at their bidding,
destablise the State, if desired by New Delhi.
All seem to have forgotten that a Governor’s true function
is not just to represent the Centre as Head of State, serve his people and
fight their battle with the Centre and , not vice versa. He has to bear in mind
the overall national interest, not partisan Party interests and be in tune with
his own people, not with the Party in power at the Centre.
The Constitution empowers him to influence the decisions of
an elected Government by giving him the right “to be consulted, to warn and
encourage”. His role is overwhelmingly that of a “friend, philosopher and
guide” to his Council of Ministers with unrivalled discretionary powers. A lot
more than those of the President.
Questionably, can India afford to allow persons holding
Constitutional offices to accept political “rewards” for doing at its bidding?
No. Ultimately, principles emerge from good practices not bad ones. Good
principles recognise Constitutionalism and democracy. Time we restore the
office of the Governor to its old glory. This calls for fairness, uprightness
and adherence to Constitutional values and conventions.
Clearly, as long as the Centre keeps
using the Governor as a political tool and as long as persons of rectitude and
moral strength don’t occupy the post, Machiavellian machinations will continue
to unfold. Our leaders need to rise above politics and appoint neutral
non-political Governors not neta-turned
rajyapal-turned neta.
A Governor must not be reduced to
being a who’s who to who? who? A glorified chaprasi.
It is now imperative that Prime Minister Modi who postulates the Constitution
also practices what he solemnly preaches. Remember, what matters are not men
but institutions. One can tit for an individual but not tat on the State! ----- INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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