New Delhi: The Modi government is planning to get aggressive in shunting out the governors who have so far refused to resign. Some of the governors hinted that pressure was being mounted by the government to make them quit. A day after Uttar Pradesh governor B.L. Joshi resigned from his post, Maharashtra’s K. Sankaranarayanan and West Bengal’s M.K. Narayanan on Wednesday made it clear yet again that they were not willing to budge. Not as yet.
Maharashtra governor K. Sankaranarayanan said, “Union home secretary Anil Goswami called me twice during the last week (asking me to demit office). I didn’t reply to him anything (sic). The governor’s post is a constitutional post. A governor is a representative of the President, he is appointed by the President. No responsible person has asked me anything in writing to be relieved of the post (sic).”
“No post is permanent in a democracy. If a person having appropriate authority calls me (asking me to quit), then I will certainly think over it,” Raj Bhavan sources quoted the 82-year-old Sankaranarayanan as saying. Sankaranarayanan has been serving as governor of Maharashtra since January 22, 2010. He took the oath a second time on May 7, 2012, after the President granted him a fresh term of five years.
West Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan on Wednesday said he has not resigned “yet”. Assam governor J.B. Patnaik had on Tuesday refused to give in to pressure. On Wednesday, Mr Patnaik met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “It was a courtesy call,” a PMO statement said of the meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office. Following the refusal and reluctance of the governors, the Modi government could possibly shunt them to smaller states or keep the pressure on.
Meanwhile, Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj on Wednesday met Union home minister Rajnath Singh here. Ruling out his resignation, Mr Bhardwaj said governors cannot resign unless their replacement is in place. “There is a provision in the Constitution that the governor shall continue unless the new governor is appointed. So, that has been the provision, how can you act irresponsibly,” he told reporters. Mr Bhardwaj, who has sought an appointment with the Prime Minister on Thursday, said “Governors cannot resign. They have to stay, according to the Constitution, in their headquarters, unless the President appoints a new governor.”
“I had no talks with the home secretary throughout the five years that I was governor. No home secretary ever talked to me. Rajnath Singh is my oldest friend and a dignified leader. So, I must wish him well after taking the high office of the home ministry,” said Mr Bhardwaj.
There was speculation that Nagaland governor Ashwani Kumar may resign soon.
However, Mr Kumar was critical of the Centre’s move to replace governors appointed during the UPA’s time in government and wondered if the NDA government wanted governors of a “particular colour”.
He said the move smacked of a “political vendetta”. “I believe that the reason behind replacing the governors in different states is essentially a political consideration. There is a new government and I believe that it wants governors of a particular colour in the states, and that seems to be the motivation,” Mr Kumar said.
