Do we need Governors is the big question now. If there are Governors what powers should they have? The only time the governor plays a more crucial interventionist role is if there is a hung assembly and the confidence vote is obtained by engineering splits and defections.
The hand has been replaced by the lotus, but the instincts to ensure that Raj Bhavans are extensions of the political authority at the Centre remain the same. The politicking by the Governors continue..
The BJP could grab 2 states recently even after the Congress got straight majority in the elections through the office of Governors. Ramlal the then Governor of AP is still remembered for dethroning the TDP CM NT Rama Rao. ND Tiwari is remembered for his sexual acts.
The Modi government has been more soft in dealing with the issue of changing Governors and using Governors ever since the BJP came to power. Earlier the UPA government, which in 2004 almost overnight obtained the resignation of all governors who had been nominated by the BJP.
These governors nominated by the ruling parties earlier have an ideology which is contrary to that of the ruling party in power,” is the argument. BJP senior leaders had vigorously protested, calling the move to remove “dangerous” and a “violation of constitutional principles”. Now, exactly the same language is being used by Congress leaders.
If Congress described the move to remove governors in ideological terms, the BJP today justifies its actions on the basis of “set traditions” and the need to replace “political appointees”. If you have to make a politician a governor, then that individual must be legally made to give up active politics or holding an office of profit for a minimum of 10 years after their tenure.
The role of the governor is principally ceremonial: Cutting ribbons, attending official functions, delivering speeches or going around Temples, celebrating festivals or throwing parties. One should now make a loud thinking. Do we really need them?
U.Srinivas
EDITOR
